The Mafia's Daughter
by Nature9000
Summary: In a search for his old girlfriend, Gabe becomes tied up with the Colorado mafia on the verge of war with the Italian mob. It all goes up in smoke when Jo's family is abducted by her father. Now, she and Gabe must work to not only retrieve their families, but to eradicate the Colorado Mafia. Can they convince the Italian's Underboss to extend his help, or must they go it alone?
1. On the Run

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

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Chapter 1 (On the Run)

Jo 'Avery' Keener gazed from the window of her bedroom, sighing mournfully as she curled her fingers on the end table beside her. On the table she had a photo, usually stashed away in the drawer, of her former boyfriend Gabe Duncan. It had been a couple years since she'd seen him last, or the Duncan family as a whole. At least she could say life had become very interesting since she'd left, given the fact that her family now owned a talking dog. Gabe would have had loads of fun with that fact.

She had to give up many things she enjoyed throughout her life. Of these things, martial arts was included. The family didn't know about the history she and her mother had, and surely if they did, it couldn't possibly end well. Bennett, the counselor dad who didn't know as much as he'd like to think, Tyler the airheaded big brother, and Chloe, always getting herself into trouble. She loved them already, and she trusted them, but her mom never wanted the truth to come out.

Jo had seen a lot of violence growing up in Colorado, more than she and her mother had been accustomed to. The reason she was always so tough on Gabe when they dated, she had to be. After a while she told him what was going on, and he still loved her, despite the fact that her father could easily cut off his fingers at any time. Her heart tore against the points of her ribcage as she moved her hands over her heart and closed her eyes, no longer wanting to gaze at the glossy windowpanes. She breathed out his name as the door began to creak.

"Who's Gabe?" Jo screamed out and spun, glaring at the white and brown dog now sitting on her bed. Stan smiled at her the way dogs typically do, then beat his paw on the bed. "Sorry if I startled you, the whole family's been wondering why you've been pent up in your room lately." She spoke softly and glanced towards Gabe's photo.

"Sorry Stan, it's just…that time again…" Stan crinkled his nose, then rubbed it with his paw. Seeing the act, she raised an eyebrow and though of the wording in her statement. "Not like that…"

"Sorry. Consider me the esteemed listener of the house. What's going on?" He laid on the edge of the bed and looked over to the picture of Gabe. His tiny eyebrows lifted into the air and his ear perked up. "I haven't seen that photo before, is that Gabe? Here I thought you were seeing another dog." Stan grinned comically, but Jo didn't laugh. "Come on Avery, throw a dog a bone."

"This isn't a time to be funny. Gabe was my boyfriend a couple years back." She slowly walked towards the door and gazed out with an arched brow. Instinctively, she shut the door and looked back, sighing heavily. Even in hiding, she still looked over her shoulder. _They_ could be anywhere. She wasn't one to give the whole spiel of her past, but she _had_ to get it off her chest. "This is the anniversary of when we separated. Granted…neither of us wanted to part, but it was for the best…"

"Why break up if you didn't want to?"

"My dad." Jo moved to the edge of the bed and sat beside Stan. She ran her fingers through his thick coat and looked up to the ceiling. It wasn't that her dad didn't like Gabe, he did, but the problem was the lifestyle. "My name isn't really Avery, Stan. Mom's name isn't Ellen either." Stan's jaw dropped open and Jo turned her eyes towards the door. "We haven't told the family because…it's for their own protection. I don't want to see anything happen to Bennett, Tyler, or Chloe. Or even you."

"I don't understand. _Why_ hide who you are?"

"Because…Dad's the don of the Colorado mafia." Stan did a double take and perked his head up. Jo turned her gaze towards Gabe's photo, smiling tenderly, yearning to hold him. Her voice softened and her eyes began to dampen with tears. "I loved Gabe so, _so_ much. He was my world, my everything. But then Dad wanted to move out of the country, the police tagged him in the middle of his mafia's drug trade so he was going to move to evade the police. Mom and I didn't want that, so she divorced him and we…ran…the price-"

"Leaving Gabe behind, huh?" Her heart sank as Stan put his head onto her leg, whining softly. "Any idea what happened with Gabe and his family?" She slowly shook her head and fell back onto the bed, gazing up at the ceiling fan. Her hope was that they were living a happy life, safe from the hands of the mafia. "I thought the Italian mafia was big here."

"They are…" She moved her hands beneath her head and looked down her nose to see Stan gazing curiously at her. "They have an outlet here."

"Two different mafias in the same state?" The Italian Mafia was the biggest, they were spread all along the Eastern coast, having taken over several states. They had outlets in various other states, but would not take over them unless a war broke out. "I don't understand." Being the daughter of the don meant she had to understand and know everything there was to know about the mob, who their allies were and who their friends were.

"The Colorado mafia is just a state mafia big on violence and aggression. The Italian mafia retains the old school ways of respect and negotiation. They align themselves with other mafias, like the Colorado Mafia here. There's the basic agreement of: You don't cross our paths, we don't cross yours, no problems." The Italian Mafia owned half of the state of Colorado, including Police Chief Doug Dooley, as well as the state Governor. The Colorado Mafia had the Denver mayor on the payroll, and their Consigliere was one of the state's most powerful attorneys. "The Colorado Mafia is very careful not to piss off the Italian Mafia, as aggressive as they are, because they know….despite the 'peaceful' nature of the Italian Mafia, those guys can take them out in a heartbeat if a war began."

"So the Italian Mafia racked up more allies through peacemaking?"

"Like I said, they're old school. If it comes to blows it comes to blows, but they try to make deals first. Colorado Mafia just makes enemies because they go in guns blazing. They hardly strategize." She could only imagine what would happen if a war broke out, the Italian Mafia would take Colorado for their own. Another state where everyone is on _their_ payroll. She smiled heartily and closed her eyes, dreaming of the protection of the Italian Mafia.

"Do they know much about the Italian Mafia?"

"Not really. They just know the don, he moved to New York a while back. Don's daughter was dating someone around here last I checked, I think she's promised to someone. Her boyfriend is set to be the next don of the Italian Mafia, but I think that guy might be a capo right now." She didn't remember a whole lot, as it had been about a year or so since she and her mom escaped. "My real name is Jo, by the way. You can still call me Avery."

"Probably would be best if I did, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"So why can't you let anyone know who you are?" Shrugging her shoulders, she moved her hands to her stomach and sighed.

"My dad would find us. I don't want anything to happen to you guys, and if Dad found us, he'd kill you. I can't bear the thought of that." The door opened an Ellen walked in, frowning as her eyes turned towards the photo on the end table. Jo met her mom's concerned gaze and slowly sat up. "Hey mom…"

"Sweetie…You're thinking of Gabe again, aren't you?"

"I miss him." Ellen sat beside her and hooked her arm around Jo's neck.

"I know you do sweetheart. It's just the way the mafia works…" On the run forever, that's what it felt like. She hated it with every fiber of her being, but sadly there was nothing she could do about it. One slip up, and they could be goners. "I made some pie…" She crinkled her nose and saw Stan move his paws over his nozzle. Ellen sighed with defeat and let out a nervous chuckle. "Even the dog doesn't like my cooking…of course…"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm really not in the mood right now. Just really want to be alone." Ellen lifted her hand and groomed back Jo's hair, gently kissing her forehead.

"All right honey. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom." She watched as the woman slowly left the room. After a few seconds, Stan examined Gabe's photo and left her to rest. Her teary eyes studied the image of her smiling boyfriend and she turned to her side, resting her hands beneath her head. "Wherever you are, Gabe…" As long as he was safe and out of the hands of the Colorado mafia or her father, she was happy. Maybe one day they'd see each other again, or perhaps not, only time would tell. "I love you."

In Denver, Gabe Duncan sat on the family couch with a newspaper he was reading. PJ was in the recliner, chatting on the phone with Skyler. The two were still together, despite the move. He never thought much of it, it didn't really concern him. His thoughts were primarily on the girl whose photo remained in his wallet, his former girlfriend Jo.

No matter what, he could not get the image of her soft brown hair and her sweet smile and bright blue eyes out of his mind. The glow that radiated from her on their first date at that ball had never faded. He was intent on finding her. A noise grabbed his attention from behind, he looked over his shoulder to see Teddy walking by with Toby in her arms. Spencer and Charlie were at the top of the stairs, with Charlie smacking his leg with a stuffed animal. Something she commonly did, but never offered up a reason why.

Bob and Amy were in the kitchen, trying to figure out what dinner was going to be. Unfortunately Gabe wasn't planning on sticking around for dinner, he had work to do.

It had been Mrs. Dabney's son, Rodney, who caught onto Gabe's nefarious ways. The sleazy deals, cunning schemes. Rodney was a high rank in the Colorado mafia and convinced Gabe to join about a year ago. It was a secret life, away from the eyes of his family. He wasn't going to stick around, but when he heard that Jo had been involved, he used this as a reason to stay. He wasn't sure _how _involved she was, but any involvement was a sign that she could be found.

"I have to get moving," Gabe muttered, pushing himself from the couch. He learned a lot from the mafia, they had to put him through training of course. He'd not taken any lives, yet, and he couldn't imagine doing the deed. Not unless he had to, of course. PJ raised an eyebrow at him and pulled the phone from his ear.

"Where are you going?"

"Dabney."

"Why?" PJ, he always asked questions. What did it matter what he was up to? Hell, PJ himself was almost as secretive, despite the fact that he didn't even live at the place anymore. "Dinner's almost ready." Gabe exhaled and began moving towards the door, knowing the ramifications of being late.

"I'm going to miss it."

Within the hour, Gabe arrived at the corner of Smith and Lee where Rodney and another man were waiting for them. They were wearing brown suits, unlike the Italian Mafia that wore black sports jackets and black slacks. He was supposed to go into the barber shop on this corner and convince the owner to take the protection of the Colorado Mafia.

What this meant was quite simple, for 'protection' the owners of the establishments and rackets would have to pay a certain percentage to the mafia. That shop, or racket, would then become part of the Colorado Mafia territory. There really were not any other Mafias to compete with, aside from the Italian mob, but things were always tense with them. While the agreement was to stay out of each other's way, it seemed like the mere tickle of a feather could set guns blazing throughout Colorado between the two mafias. So he had to tread lightly, making sure not to end up taking territory from the Italian Mafia without realizing it. He did not want to be caught up in the middle of a war, if he could avoid it.

"All right, this is another of those tests of yours, go in and convince the owner of the shop that he needs the protection of the Colorado mafia. For about 60% of his earnings, he gets the protection of the mafia." Usually protection of the Colorado Mafia meant the owner has to give a greater majority of their money to the mafia and only have one or two soldiers ever at their place. The Italian mafia was a bit lighter, only requiring 40% of the earnings and would station a certain number of their soldiers depending on how large the establishment was. It was also usually _known_ when a location had the protection of the Italian Mafia. Hands off was the common rule of thumb. "You got that?"

"Yes." He didn't dare to work against them at this point, it wasn't worth it. Once you were in with the Colorado Mafia, you couldn't leave them. Unlike the Italian Mafia, you were free to leave if you had to, but you could divulge secrets.

Gabe made his way into Allen's Barbershop and turned his eyes towards the cash register. There was a man at the desk, looking through a tiny pamphlet. Nobody else was in the shop. "I'm looking for Allen." The man looked up from his furry grey eyebrows and his curly grey hair, smiling politely.

"I am Allen."

"Okay." Gabe made his way towards the cash register and leaned forward beside it, gazing into the man's eyes. "I'm here to offer you the protection of the Colorado Mafia. There's a lot of naysayers out there, dangerous thugs who might try to break a fragile old man like yourself. For about 60% of your earnings, we'll station a couple soldiers here to prevent that from happening."

"Are you kidding me?" Allen furrowed his brow and stood straight, scoffing at him. "All over we see you people. Colorado Mafia, Italian Mafia, I don't want to get caught up in the middle of your shit. My friend just had to sell out to the Italian Mafia!"

"Yes…" He rolled his eyes and reached for his back pocket. He'd been given a small snub nose revolver by the mafia, he never wanted to use it, but he felt it would happen eventually. Today wasn't going to be that day, but it was a good negotiation tool. Spouting out lines he'd been told by the capos above him, he started to grip the gun, not really ready to pull out. He caught Allen's gaze studying his hand and smirked at the sweat dripping down his forehead. "I think you know what I have back here. Do I need to bring out my negotiator or are we going to deal the easy way."

"You know what…fine. I don't want trouble. Tell your people I'll deal with them, but they can go fuck themselves at the same time."

"Gladly." He moved his hand back over and shook Allen's hand, then casually walked out of the building. His stomach was flipping like mad and his nerves were frayed, but he couldn't let Rodney see it. He looked towards Rodney and nodded briefly. "Consider Allen's Barbershop protected by the Colorado Mafia."

"Good," Rodney replied, "We'll send a few men out to collect each week. Now, give me that revolver and you can get yourself back home."

"Great." He was more than glad to be rid of the gun, as it might raise more questions from PJ, and he was truly irritated with all the questioning. "You need anything else, you know where to find me." He had to keep reminding himself, this was all to find Jo and nothing more, but he sure didn't feel safe with the Colorado Mafia. There was always something in the back of his mind that was just raising suspicions and doubts for him.

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What do you think of the first chapter? This is gonna be good and hopefully you'll be stickin' through for the long haul. Surprises in store here, plus one mystery character whose identity will be revealed much later, but keep on the lookout for clues in each chapter!


	2. Family

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 2 (Family)

"So you have to be extremely careful." Gabe listened to Rodney's advice well as they walked through the streets of Colorado. He still hadn't made his way back home because he wanted to take a long walk with Rodney and gain some more insight on the mafia. He didn't dare say he was searching for Jo, knowing she was a tie with the mob somehow, he didn't want them to suspect him of something. "As you know, there is a lot of tension between the Colorado Mafia and the Italian Mafia. That's to be expected when you're making agreements with the biggest mafia in the country."

"They control a lot of states…"

"And half of Colorado. They would just love to get their hands on the rest." What little information known about the Italian Mafia was distressing, considering how pertinent they were in the grand scheme of things. Should a war break loose, how on earth could the Colorado mafia even stand to beat them, knowing nothing of the mafia? Gabe let out a slight whistle and gazed ahead with a frown as police cars whizzed by. Likely responding to some attack concerning the Colorado mob, the Italian Mafia tended to keep their hands clean around here.

"Why do you not hear so much about them doing crimes?"

"They're good at covering it up, of course. They do the whole thing, contract hits, bombings and sabotage, and of course they own half of the rackets around here. The prostitution rackets, gambling rackets, auto rackets, armories, etc. The extorted business…word is, they have a new powerful underboss that actually lives here. He commands the Colorado section of their mafia." Gabe raised an eyebrow. He felt a sudden jolt of fear and uncertainty, imagining a shady figure gazing down at him with a darkened glare. Mystery and intrigue always surrounded the underbosses as well as the dons. "No one knows who he is or where he is, all that's known is he's young and is promised to the Don's daughter. That's the reason he's the underboss, so he's gone through rigorous training to actually earn that rank, and over the last couple of years, he's done more than earn it by taking control of the rackets."

"Wow…" For the Italian mafia, sixteen was the earliest age one could be recruited. If the underboss was as young as Rodney seemed to state, then he was likely a teenage recruit. The scary thought was the level of training he would have had to have in order to gain the degree of respect and power that he had. "Guess he really deserves the hand of the Don's daughter, huh."

"Yep, that's the word on the street. He's apparently a calm force, but he knows how to control the gangs that are out there." Gangs were a common problem for most mafia, and people always had this misconception that the mafia and gangs were alike. They were nothing alike. The mafia had a more organized structure revolving around respect and business, gangs were just common street thugs that liked to ransack things and attack innocent people. The mafia did not do this, though the Colorado mafia seemed to come close to it. "I fear pissing off the underboss by stealing one of his warehouses or rackets."

"I can imagine. He must be a pretty fearsome guy. No one knows who the don is?" Rodney winced and clicked his tongue, apparently attempting to think. It astonished him that he wouldn't know the _don_, but at the same time, Rodney wasn't as high in the ranks to know this information.

"What I _can _tell you about the Don is he's a relatively new Don, within the last five or six years. He is related in a way to that infamous Corleone family, I think through a cousin or something." The Corleones were the toughest of the tough. The movies and the books that everyone thought fiction were every bit the truth, written by someone with connections. They were the best negotiators and often sought peaceful means, but would turn to blows if it came to that. "Different name of course. He's genuine Italian, as you should be."

"Right…Italian mafia, everyone's Italian, even the underboss?" Rodney rubbed his chin. Gabe put his hands behind his head and lifted his shoulders. "If he's so young and promised to the don's daughter, what does that mean?"

"It means he dated the woman at some point of time, won the Godfather's loyalty and respect with his own loyalty, and so the Don said the guy would marry his daughter in the future. By marrying the daughter, he's thereby entitled to be the next Godfather. From what I hear, the underboss _is_ Italian. I think it's maternal, there's a rumor floating about that the underboss's father is some non-Italian hack. It's okay though, the underboss apparently still has Italian in his veins."

"That's cool. Yeah, I think I'm a little Italian too." Rodney raised an eyebrow and Gabe flashed a nervous smile. He _did_ have some Italian, he heard it mentioned.

"Right. Don't you go repeating that around the Colorado mob, they won't like it."

"I'll take your advice there." Indeed the Colorado Mafia was strictly _not_ Italian. As for the Italian Mafia, it wasn't like it was all controlled by one family. The Corleone family had been the strongest Italian Mafia family to date, and now, it would appear the new Don and the Underboss stationed in Colorado had inherited that very family. They had a strong reputation to keep up, and there was no way anyone was going to risk it. There were other families, and to wipe out those families, there was a simple way to do it.

In any mafia, to wipe out a particular family, you had to take _all_ of their rackets. Kill their made men, take out their Don, and finally blow up their compound. That was one way to get rid of rival families for good. The Colorado Mafia worked the same way, only there was one reason it was different from the Italian mafia. It only had _one_ family.

This meant, if the Italian mafia were to take out the one family that controlled the Colorado mafia, they would essentially exterminate them. "What does Mrs. Dabney think about you being in this business?" Rodney scoffed and pat Gabe's shoulder, smirking at him.

"What does _your _family think about _you_ being a part of this?" Taken aback, he exhaled and shrugged his shoulders. No way could he tell them he was in the mafia, especially not the Colorado mafia. They'd go nuts!

"Point taken." Gabe knew so little about the Colorado mafia at this point, he didn't really even know who the don was. When he earned his way through the ranks, he'd learn. He only wanted to find Jo, that was it, nothing more. However, the thought of crossing the mafia was a harsh one at that. "I'm almost fifteen and you still recruited me…"

"It was a bit of a stretch, but our mafia is unlike the Italian mafia, we don't have an age restriction. Sure, it's probably not the best thing, but yeah…" He rolled his eyes and turned away, wondering just how different they were to a common street gang. If he had his druthers, he'd be with the Italian mafia. With a defeated sigh, he shook his head and pondered how in the hell Jo could have gotten mixed up with them. She hardly seemed the type. "So what's your story, huh Gabe? What's your interest? I know you said you were looking for a girl that was involved with the mafia, but aside from that, what do you have for us? Who's the girl?"

"Well…" He had a sickening feeling that if he mentioned Jo, he'd be in for a world of hurt. Sweat ran along his neck as he pushed his hands into his pocket and looked up into Rodney's darkened gaze. "You see, she and I met a few years back, fell in love and I've wanted to see her ever since. I heard someone mention her name once before and said she was involved with this mafia, so I thought I'd look for her." Rodney laughed heartily and folded his arms over.

"Well I might know of her. Just tell me your name and I'll try to find her." He opened his mouth, but still the aching feeling in his gut was holding him back. What was the issue here? Why couldn't he say her name? What was so wrong with it? If Rodney could help find her, then by all means, he ought to speak up!

"J-"

Suddenly a pair of headlights blinded the two of them. Gabe put his hands in front of his face, cringing painfully as Rodney attempted to curse. The headlights soon dimmed and Gabe slowly lowered his hands, then froze upon seeing PJ in the driver's seat of the car! His blood ran cold and his palms began sweating as his brother's narrow eyes burned into him.

"What the hell!" Rodney exclaimed. "Watch it, man!" PJ's eyes drifted towards Rodney and his eyebrow lifted into the air. He stretched his arm out of the car and waved back, signaling Gabe to move towards him.

"Come on Gabe," PJ barked out his order and Gabe immediately moved without hesitation. "Everyone's worried sick. Get in the car." As Gabe moved into the passenger seat, he watched his brother exit the vehicle and walk over to Rodney. PJ didn't appear too happy with the man, but he didn't think PJ would know him. Likely, he was only upset that someone much older was keeping his little brother out so late at night.

He folded his hands over in his lap and looked towards the photo hanging from the rearview mirror. His eyes met the pleasant smile of PJ's girlfriend, Skyler. Her gentle eyes and soft face were always a welcomed sight at the house when she still lived in Denver. He hoped to see her and her family again one day, and perhaps they would since she and PJ were still together.

The car door opened and PJ moved into the driver's seat. "I don't like this one bit, Gabe." Gabe rolled his eyes as PJ started up the car and began driving off, staring silently into the rearview mirror. "You shouldn't be running around late at night! Not with the Colorado mafia roaming the streets! You hear about them all over the news, they're more dangerous than any damn street gang!"

"Geez, what are you, your brother's keeper or something?"

"When it comes to making sure you don't get yourself into trouble, then yes! God, you've been so damn secretive lately, you've got everyone running up the walls trying to figure you out, Gabe!"

"And you haven't been either? Practically all you do is talk to Skyler, talk to Emmett, and god knows what you do at the apartment." PJ's face fell flat and his eyes drifted over as he stopped at a red light.

"I study, Gabe. I study." Gabe hung his elbow out the window, chuckling as the wind blew his hair. He honestly didn't know what his brother studied, PJ never mentioned a major.

"What are you even into?" PJ rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Culinary. Though I'm also majoring in sociology and criminal justice."

"Oh...you're smart enough?"

"Yes." PJ turned the corner and kept driving towards their house. He heaved a heavy sigh and slowly shook his head. "You _cannot_ be out this late, Gabe, come on. What were you even doing?"

"I don't know…I uh, I went into this barbershop, considering a haircut. I saw someone from that mafia talking to the owner." PJ raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards an oncoming stop sign. He rolled to a stop and glanced out the window, scanning for cars. "Allen's Barbershop, you've heard of it?" PJ visibly winced and muttered something beneath his breath, something about 'hoping for' something. Gabe didn't bother asking, figuring it wasn't important enough.

"You came _that close_ to them. You just had to do it. God Gabe, if I had a quarter for every time you got yourself in trouble…"

"Nothing _happened_, PJ." He ran his hand through his hair, shuddering at the lie. He was accustomed to lying, but something about this one just didn't feel right to him. His mind really wasn't on his brother, but on the things Rodney had talked to him about regarding the Italian mafia. He honestly didn't want to get caught up in the middle of a war, and a potential one just felt like it could break at any moment. "All I want is to find Jo," he muttered under his breath. PJ glanced over at him with a frown and an arched brow.

"Jo? Is that why you've been so secretive lately, Gabe? You want to find her?"

He lowered his hand and lifted his shoulders. "I…guess…I mean, I miss her. I wish I had what you and Skyler have. She just vanished off the face of the earth. That guy I was talking to there…I think he might know where she is, so I was just investigating. I met him at the park earlier." PJ hummed a tune and turned into the driveway of the house.

"I see. You know, maybe ask around your school, someone there might know something."

"I've _tried_ that, PJ. I'm…all out of options…"

"No you're not. You're never out of options, just keep searching. If you're meant to find each other again, you will. You never know, _she_ may be the one to find _you_." PJ smiled at him an rubbed his shoulder. Gabe couldn't help but to smile back, surprised by his brother's wisdom.

The two left the car and moved into the house where Amy quickly rushed to hug him, "You've brought my baby back home, PJ. Thank you!" PJ chuckled briskly and shrugged his arms, smiling at his mother.

"What can I say, Mom? I'm the eldest, so I look out for family."

* * *

What are your thoughts on the people in here? Your observations my friends?


	3. Paranoia

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 3 (Paranoia)

Jo stretched her arms out as the morning sun poured down on her, she moved her feet and struck something soft. Peering down and letting her eyes adjust to the daylight, she spotted Stan laying at the foot of her bed. With a hearty smile, she reached down and ran her hand along his silky smooth fur. Stan lifted his head up and gazed happily into her eyes. "Morning, Stan."

"Morning!" With a side glance, she reached for Gabe's photo and opened the drawer of the end table. Beginning her day, she knew she had to put it back in. Jo held the picture above the drawer, gazing for a full minute with a heavy heart, she just couldn't bear this being alone stuff. "Do you have any memorabilia? Anything left of his?" Reaching into the drawer, she hummed and felt around the contents.

"I have a ball cap of his." She withdrew her hand, revealing a black cap with the symbol of Gabe's favorite team, the Colorado Rockies. "He would always like to wear it on our dates, I keep it safe." She brought the cap to her chest and breathed in the faint aroma. She didn't want to feel like a creep, but she couldn't help herself when it came to missing him. "He gave it to me when I told him I had to leave." She lowered the hat and moved her teary eyes to the mountain in the middle. "I just couldn't tell him why…"

The look on his face constantly haunted her. His eyebrows meshed together in distress, his lips dipping down into a deep frown and his eyes gazing back at her with his sorrowful chocolate eyes. "I guess 'Jo Keener daughter of the Colorado Mafia' just wouldn't help things, huh?" She chuckled softly and shook her head. Her fear wasn't that Gabe would be frightened of her or anything, but rather that her father would do something terrible to him and to his family. "So…I thought the Colorado's Don had a different name…"

"He does, Keener is mom's maiden name. Daniel Beppe, that's my father. Don Beppe." Stan's jowls lifted up and a laugh fell from his lips. The name _Beppe_ did seem an odd name for someone that was likely to be a powerful and feared man. "Anyway, I guess it's all in the past now…"

"Doesn't have to be, you might see Gabe again, you never know." Jo heard a shuffling by the door and glanced over, holding her breath and waiting for someone to step in. When nothing came, she breathed out a sigh of relief and pushed herself from the bed.

"You don't understand, I _can't_. If my father finds him, if he finds his family, they'll all be killed. Now, let me get dressed. It's kind of hard getting dressed in front of a dog that talks, you know."

"Right, I'll leave you alone." Jo watched as Stan hopped from the bed and made his way out of the room. She thought she heard him greet Chloe, but ignored the issue. She made her way to her closet and tapped her chin, debating which of the various outfits she wanted to wear today.

Throughout school, Gabe was on her mind all day. Even when she often focused in class, she was staring out of the window with a tear running down her face. The memory of their last moment together was playing repeatedly.

_"What's bothering you?" Gabe asked while sitting on a park bench, his arm around Jo's shoulders. Her shoulders were slumped, her head bowed, and her hands were trembling in her lap. Her mother told her to say goodbye to Gabe and meet up in thirty minutes at some diner that the Italian Mafia was guarding. Even now, Ellen seemed to trust the Italian Mafia more than her dad's. _

_ "Gabe. I want…I want you to know that I love you very much." His eyes lit up and a smile started to grace his face. When she looked up to him, she winced inwardly, her heart continued to shatter like a vase being thrown against the wall. This was too difficult for her._

_ "I love you too, Jo. I would do anything for you." Her hand lifted up to his cheek and she slowly leaned forward, kissing the corner of his lips. She had to hurry, because her father could be anywhere by now. She and her mother left while he was asleep, but that was about an hour ago. Gabe leaned back and studied her gaze, his eyes full of suspicion. "What's wrong? I know that look, something's wrong." She leaned back and slowly looked over the bench. She intentionally chose this park, as it was often filled with the black suited Italian mafia members that her father's mafia was so afraid of. They wouldn't dare attack here. "Jo? Talk to me…"_

_ Looking back into his eyes, she took a slow deep breath, moving her hand to her chest. It had a very dull ache, as if someone were constantly pounding a blunt object into her. "This…This isn't goodbye…"_

_ "What?" Tears welled up in her eyes and Gabe's lips fell open. His eyes grew into large ovals and his eyebrows lifted up with surprise. "What do you mean, Jo? I…" _

_ "You don't understand, I have to leave. Mom and I…we're on the run from something. I…I can't endanger you or your family, Gabe. I just can't." He took her hands and gazed strongly back at her, seemingly determined to not lose her. She leaned back as the tears slid over her lips. _

_ "Whatever it is, we can get through it, Jo. I'm not afraid of anything, not when I'm with you."_

_ "I-I know, it's just…I can't." In the distance, she spotted a group of Colorado Mafia men scanning the streets. Her heart froze in place and she quickly shook her head. There was no more time to wait, she had to get moving now! "Oh Gabe. I have to go, I'm sorry." She moved from the bench, studying the forlorn look on his face. Choking up a sob she quickly turned away, unable to look at him any longer. "I love you, Gabe. Never…forget that…don't follow me, for your own safety…please…" _

_ With that, she took off running, with Gabe calling her from behind, his voice distraught. He was determined to find her again one day. As much as she would love it, she knew it could never happen. It couldn't happen if he and his family wanted to survive. _

_ When she made it to the diner, she threw herself into her mom's arms, weeping bitterly. Her mother hugged her close, kissing her head. "I know it hurts baby, I know. It'll be okay…I promise you."_

_ "I don't to lose Gabe!"_

_ "I know baby…I've spoken with an Italian guard here…he's going to help provide us safe passage out of Denver." This was all too real for her, all too sudden. _

Thirteen at the time, now she was almost fifteen. Tyler was about a year or two younger than PJ would be about now. PJ would be nearly twenty years, Tyler was almost eighteen. It didn't help that he reminded her a little of PJ at times. "Jo?" The teacher's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she quickly looked over with a nervous smile. It was then she noticed the rest of the class had already _left,_ she was the only one there. "Class has been over for about ten minutes now, would you like to go home?"

"Oh, sorry!" She shot out from her desk and grabbed her bag, rushing herself to leave. She told Chloe she'd go meet up with her at the elementary school and walk her home. "I have to go pick up my little sister."

As she charged from the room and towards the front door, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widened and her heart crashed. The teacher called her _Jo_, not _Avery_. Slowly she glanced over her shoulder to see the teacher walking locking the class door and walking towards the student lounge. It wasn't her _usual_ teacher, it was a substitute. This was a woman with long blonde hair and sharp crystal eyes and tightly shut lips. There was something very wrong, but was it something to truly worry about?

_"Okay…maybe it was just my imagination…"_ She could put it off as imagination, considering where her mind had just been. The substitute teacher likely wouldn't have called her by her actual name. She took a deep breath and moved her hand to the chest, breathing out a shuddering gasp. _"Got to pick up Chloe…have to go meet her…"_

Arriving at the elementary school, she saw Chloe arguing with a couple girls. Much to her fear, words overheard from before had fallen from her lips. "You better watch out, my sister is the daughter of the Colorado Mafia! She can kick your butts!" The girls glanced at one another and a parent looked over with an arched eyebrow. Jo covered her mouth and ran for her sister, anger and fear coursed through her veins.

"Chloe!" The girl turned around, grinning and raising her hands up.

"Avery!" Without hesitation, Jo grabbed Chloe's hand and dragged her off. The girl yelped out in surprise and remained silent until they were in a quieter location. "What's wrong?" Jo looked back at her, full of worry, irritation and paranoia.

"Where did you hear that?"

"I overheard you and Stan talking about it earlier." Jo slapped her forehead, remembering that the dog had said hello to Chloe just after leaving. She groaned inwardly and attempted to calm herself. Hopefully it would be _fine_, nothing meant trouble. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You're fine Chloe, just…you can't go around repeating that, all right? Mom and I are trying _not_ to be found, and if anyone knows who we are, that increases the chances of us being found…It could be very bad if they find us, Chloe."

"Oh!" Her tiny hands covered her mouth and Jo quickly looked over her shoulder, now nervous and anxious, she couldn't escape the feeling that they were in a lot of trouble. "Y-You don't think-" She closed her eyes and breathed out once more, shaking off the muck.

"I'm sure it'll be okay. Nothing to worry about…let's just get home." She would have to tell her mom, but at the same time, she didn't know if it was something to mess with or not. Her mom might just tell her not to worry, that their father couldn't find them.

Deep in the town of Havana, Cuba, nestled away on the outskirts of town was a small compound. Within this compound were several guards from the Colorado Mafia, attempting to take control of some of the rackets. Hidden away in this compound, where the American authorities could not locate him, was Don Daniel Beppe. He was on the second floor in his office, his black leather chair was turned with its back to its desk, and his eyes were glaring out the window.

He had a thick mustache and wavy brown hair that had a tendency to fall in front of his dark, brooding eyes. His jaw was firm and his brow narrow. His shoulders were broadened and his arms muscular from years of war. He'd once been a part of the Italian mafia, but defected from them to form his own family, the Colorado Mafia. In return ties had been severed and tensions were high between the two mafias, as was well known. It was through the Italians and through the authorities that he had to go on the run. When his wife and daughter refused to go with him, he was angered and ready to force them along, but they ran from him.

Now, he was on a never-ending pursuit, but since their disappearance, it was as though they'd fallen from the face of the earth. Searching for them had taken up much of his time, so much that he'd neglected expansion in his mafia family, but that was not a major issue for them. No other families had decided to attack their mafia.

He heard the front doors open and put his fingertips together, narrowing his eyes as he glared out the window. "You have news?" Daniel asked, not bothering to turn and face his guard.

"I do. Our men attempted to take a racket here in Havana, but it was already owned by another mafia that resides here. A Sicilian mafia family." He lifted his hand up, facing his back palm towards the man. He was not so stupid as to try and take a racket of another mafia family at this point of time.

"Then leave it alone."

"Right."

"Any other news?"

"In Denver, we've acquired a racket. Allen's Barbershop, this was by way of an associate, Gabe Duncan." Daniel's eyebrows rose and he quickly turned his chair. He'd questioned Gabe prior to, when Jo disappeared, but he knew nothing of her whereabouts. Being a good judge of character, he could tell Gabe spoke the truth. The question now was, _what_ was Gabe doing in his mafia?

"Would Gabe be trying to locate Jo as well?" He chuckled vainly and swept his sweaty palm across his forehead. The sweaty palms were constantly an irritant for him. No amount of hand lotion could ever cause them to remain dry.

The guard shrugged his shoulders and ran his hand along the grey stubble on his chin. "Not sure about that, sir, but we _do_ have some news about her and your wife."

"Do tell."

"The current Underboss of the Italian Mafia has taken a sudden interest in locating Jo." Fear struck him and his hands grasped tightly to the edges of the arms on his chair. His heart began pounding and his nerves spiked up.

"What?" He leaned forward, ready to strike the nearest thing he could. "If they find them, then we're fucked! Screwed, I tell you!" The guard had a stoic expression on his face, one that was driving Daniel mad. Why wasn't he getting angry? Why wasn't he getting violent? "What's wrong with you? Don't you know how serious this is!"

"Yes, but there's more." The guard smirked and his eyes narrowed with a devious glimmer. "We've found their location. Or at least, we know where your daughter is going to school at…" Sudden relief swept over him as he sank down into his chair, slowly smiling at the news.

"Well." He chuckled briskly, pleased to have the upper hand for once. "It's a start."

* * *

Whoa, this doesn't look too good, and the fearsome Italian Underboss has taken an interest in locating her too? Well we know the Italian's are the good mafia...By the way that Underboss is the one whose identity is secret, but clues will be revealed throughout until his reveal. So pay attention when he's talked about *nod* What are your thoughts on this chapter?


	4. Time With Family

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 4 (Time with Family)

"Your brother has never liked me." Gabe looked up from the kitchen table as Teddy and Spencer moved into the room, Spencer was going on and on about why he never hung out with PJ. He never thought PJ didn't like Spencer, it seemed like he liked everyone, or at least tried to. "Hell, your little sister bit me and _still_ attacks me with stuff."

"I know it's a struggle," Teddy replied sadly. "You cheated on me once, so you just have to re-earn their trust." Spencer put his hands to the kitchen counter and slowly shook his head. Gabe looked to baby Toby, sitting calmly in the high chair with his baby food. He listened as Spencer complained about it a number of reasons why the family didn't care for him. Of course, Gabe had his suspicions about Spencer, his father was on the payroll for the CO Mafia. District Attorney Paul Walsh. It was something he didn't dare mention around Teddy, PJ, or even his parents. After all, if he brought it up, they'd all wonder if _he_ was with the mafia.

"What's the problem?" Gabe asked, turning around in his chair. Teddy lowered her hands, sighing tiredly as Spencer turned his gaze over his shoulder. He picked up the slice of pizza on the plate in front of him and bit into it, chewing slowly. "You and PJ get into an argument or something?" Spencer huffed in reply. Teddy made her way over, leaning sideways against the table and resting her palm on the surface.

"No fight. Spencer came over and PJ's been glaring at him ever since." Gabe lifted his eyebrows and took another bite of the pizza. "He's on the back patio talking with Skyler right now, chose not to be in the house while Spencer's here." Honestly, with a dad involved with the Colorado mafia, Spencer wasn't too high on the trust scale. Then again, PJ likely wouldn't know of that, he didn't seem involved with the mafia enough to know. "Apparently he doesn't want to be bothered. Mom, Dad, and Charlie are watching TV. Want me to finish watching Toby for you? Spencer and I need some sort of distraction here…"

"Sure." He chucked the last bit of the pizza in his mouth and left the room, not really interested in further discussions regarding Spencer. He seemed stressed. Perhaps he knew of his father's involvement with the mafia? In which case, it would probably make things very stressful for him, because the CO Mafia would _definitely_ be watching whoever he was with. As an afterthought, Gabe glanced back over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at Spencer, who had his arm around Teddy's shoulders now. _Spencer_ probably could be trusted just fine, but still it was necessary to be on guard. Gabe didn't want anyone coming after his family because of Spencer's father.

As he made his way into the backyard, he overheard PJ talking with Skyler. "Still would like to find her," PJ said with a quiet tone in his voice. "For Gabe's sake, poor guy's been a mess lately." He raised an eyebrow and looked up to the tree house, smiling slightly. "Hold on." PJ pulled the phone from his ear and turned to face Gabe, clearing his throat. "Gabe? Need something?"

"No, I was just coming to check on you I guess." He moved to one of the porch chairs and studied his brother's annoyed expression with a smirk. "Also, they said you didn't want to be bothered. I _never_ follow rules."

"Well you should."

"Too bad!" Laughing, Gabe winked at PJ and lifted his forearm up, resting his chin on his closed hand. He was concerned with how frequently PJ would be talking with Skyler or her dad these days. It wasn't abnormal, as he always talked with them before, but lately it had been _more_ frequent than usual. "I hardly get any time with you anymore, PJ. When you're not here you're at your apartment, and when you _are _here, you're on the phone." PJ frowned and glanced to the phone, defeated. He closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

"You're right, I'm sorry about that." He brought the phone up to his ear with a smile. "Skyler? Yeah, I'm going to spend some time with my brother. Maybe dad too, he's been bugging me lately to spend some time with him also." Gabe cheered, pulling his fist down for victory. "Besides, Gabe's probably acting up out of loneliness." PJ smirked at him, earning a glare back. He could hear Skyler laugh on her end as she said her goodbye. "Love you too Sky, I'll talk to you later."

Within an hour, PJ and Gabe were out on the lake with Bob. They were out fishing and relaxing in a small boat. The sun was shining down on the crystal clear waters and warming up in this cold December month. Bob was at the front of the boat, PJ the back, and Gabe the middle. Bob looked over his shoulders at the two and gave them a proud smile. "You know something, boys?"

"What?" PJ asked. PJ had his back turned and his solemn expression gazed out at the still line. He was watching that pole with devilish intensity, as though he'd learned to never waver from his focus.

"I'm glad we're out here, I've been feeling…down lately. Doing some thinking." Gabe looked up from his line, smiling briskly at his father. Bob returned to his line, his lips forming a thin line and his shoulders shrugging. "If something were to happen to me…somewhere down the line…I know your mom and your siblings would be well taken care of. PJ, you'd be the man of the house…"

"You're not going anywhere Dad. Besides…I'd never let anything happen to them, if I could help it."

"That's why I know they're in good hands."

"What's got you feeling like this?" Gabe asked. He recast his line and looked over to his dad. The man shrugged his shoulders once more and closed his eyes.

"Just something I saw in a movie, it gave me an unsettling dream. I had a dream the family was under attack and they killed me. I just…I woke up covered in sweat. Amy was right next to me, still asleep, and I was terrified. I just…" He let out a shuddering gasp and moved his hand to his forehead. PJ looked back with a frown and Gabe slowly pat his father's back. It was a shame that an attack on the family was always possible if he screwed up, so he had to take good care of things. Even PJ probably wouldn't be able to handle the CO Mafia.

"It'll be okay Dad. It was only a dream."

"I _know_, but I also saw on the news today that the Colorado Mafia's been getting more and more antsy lately. The police here are so damn corrupt that they won't do a thing about it." PJ hummed in response and Gabe turned his gaze to the shores of the lake. He was a little surprised by that, considering the Italian Mafia had the police chief on their payroll. Then again, that was probably one reason the police weren't cracking down on the Colorado mafia, because if they did, it could be taken as the Italian mafia ordering it. Mr. Dooley could then only remain silent and let the mafias do their work while the police turned a blind eye.

"Maybe we ought to move to New York then." He laughed heartily as both Bob and PJ shot a skeptical look at him. "What? All they have up there is the Italian Mafia, and it seems like those guys versus the Colorado Mafia, they'd be the lesser problem." Bob tilted his head and squinted his eyes thoughtfully.

"Well yeah, it seems like they don't do anything to innocents like the Colorado mob does, but you can never be too sure. The mafia is just that sleazy of a business."

"Like they say on The Godfather, 'it's just business'," PJ joked. His lips curled up in a smile and tiny lines appeared at the edges of his eyes. Gabe chuckled and Bob started laughing, relaxing his overly tense body. It _was_ worrisome how troubled the man seemed, so it was to their best benefit that they keep him calm. There was no reason he should be afraid of anything. "Just relax dad, no one's going anywhere and nothing's going to happen. I'm sure the Colorado Mafia is no big threat."

"Yeah, you're right. It's just some silly nightmare." How could PJ say that with such certainty? It hardly seemed right, but considering he knew nothing of the Colorado Mafia, it was likely safe to make such an assumption. "Anyway, thank you for spending some time with your old man."

"We're always happy to, Dad."

Some time later at the Walsh household, a shadowy figure fell upon the front door. A man in a black tuxedo with shades covering his eyes reached up and knocked on the door. With him were two men in identical apparel. "What are we doing here, Boss?" Asked the man with the fuzzy brown goatee.

"Here to investigate. Nothing more." The front door opened up and a man with grey hair and a red robe stood petrified before the three men. "No reason to be afraid, Mr. Walsh. We're not here to hurt you. I'm the Underboss for my family and these are my men, I've come to understand that you are the Consigliere for the Beppe family?"

"Yes, that's right," Paul replied. The Underboss smiled and slowly made his way in, scanning the surroundings. He shifted his gaze back to the man and raised an eyebrow. Paul was trembling for some reason that he did not understand, he'd already stated there was no reason to be afraid. All he wanted was to examine the location. To see why Mr. Walsh was working for the Colorado Mafia. "But can you keep it on the down low? My family doesn't know I have ties with them."

"I would think they would know something so crucial, Mr. Walsh." The Underboss moved to the recliner in the room and folded his arms across his chest. "If you wish for me to not reveal anything to your family, you're going to have to do something for me in return."

"What is that?"

"Tell me all you can about Don Beppe and his family."

"Don Beppe? His family ran out on him _ages_ ago."

"I am aware, I am also aware that his daughter was Jo Keener."

"What is your interest in her, if you don't mind me asking? We received word that you were searching for her." The man nodded in reply and planted his elbow on the armrest, bringing his two fingers up to his right temple.

"A friend of the family has requested we find anything out about where she may be. That is all." He remained calm and stoic, not wavering one minute from this conversation. After all, he had to keep a strong front no matter what.

"You should know then that her father has been in search of her as well." His heart shot up to his throat and he quickly lifted his head, narrowing his ferocious eyes upon the man. "Don Beppe will not rest until he has found his wife and daughter."

"Then perhaps once he has found her, he will inform us that she is safe?"

"I can see to it that's what happens."

"Then do so." He slowly rose and shook the man's hand before slinking towards the door. With a polite smile, he looked back over his shoulders and removed his shades. "Thank you very much, Mr. Walsh. We may be in contact in the future."

* * *

Happy new years to you, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any thoughts?


	5. Always Running

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 5 (Always on the Run)

"Am I crazy?" Jo pondered, laying back on her bed and gazing up at the ceiling. Her hair was sprawled out above her and her left hand was resting neatly on her full stomach, they'd had a rotisserie chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes for dinner. To her right, she'd put out the photo again. "Talking to a picture. I must be mad. It was almost ritualistic for her, every day after dinner she'd talk to him. After homework, she'd talk with him. Of course he couldn't hear her, but she could dream.

She rolled onto her side and pushed her hands beneath her head, gazing mournfully at Gabe's handsome smile. "I suppose I should move on, but it's too hard." Beside the photo was Gabe's ball cap, among the souvenirs she had of their time together, it was one of her favorites. Her actual favorite was a necklace she had stashed away somewhere. "Of all the mafia's I had to be born into, it had to be the Colorado Mafia. Sheesh…Why couldn't it be Don Bosca's mob family? At least the Italians aren't as vicious. They wouldn't keep us apart, Gabe. I know Don Bosca's daughter, she was a friend of mine. She and her dad would have given us their protection."

It was funny, she knew more about the Italian Mafia families than the Colorado mafia, or even her father knew. Perhaps it was due to her brief friendship with the Don's daughter, but she made sure she studied up on the mafia families. She had to, it was not only her 'duty' to, but it was necessary for knowing how to avoid them. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, smiling still at the photo. "Here I am, acting like some lovesick puppy. A lovelorn, if you will. You would make so much fun of me if you saw me acting this way." But then, he would embrace her in his strong arms, and they would dance the night away. Wiping her eyes, her voice began to tremble. "God I miss that so much. You don't even know…"

"I wouldn't say _lovelorn_," someone stated. Jo immediately looked over her shoulder, startled to see her mom standing in the doorway and leaning up against the frame. The woman was smiling sadly, her eyes misty. "Considering your love wasn't unrequited. You know he loved you back…"

"I know. I wasn't meaning to get technical."

"I know baby." Ellen started to close the door behind her, but jumped when Stan rushed in between her legs and hopped up on the bed. The mother stared at him for a minute, then proceeded to shut the door. Jo let out a brisk laugh and ran her hand along Stan's smooth fur. "Chloe said you had something to tell me. Also, I've been thinking, maybe we should tell the family…"

"What? That we're hiding from the mob?"

"Obviously we trust them, I just don't want them to get hurt." She could understand that very well. Ellen walked over and sat down beside her, putting a gentle hand to her shoulder. "I won't do it unless you think we should." Telling them was a frightening thought, she could only imagine what would happen if something went wrong. She didn't want to lose any of them, was there a chance they'd run away screaming?

"You think they'll take the news easily, Mom?"

"No, but I think they'll understand."

"Hopefully, I don't want to lose anyone else." Sure, Chloe took it well, but it was doubtful the girl understood too much. Bennett might try to psychoanalyze the whole situation, and Tyler of course, might just be his typical airheaded self.

Although, the airhead elder brother of families usually ended up surprising everybody around them. Maybe he could have a deep dark secret, but maybe that could be too much to hope for.

Ellen hugged her close. Always she'd been an overprotective mother, but Jo never truly cared. "I love you sweetie, I always will. Now, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Her eyebrows lifted up as she recalled what occurred the other day, she'd been battling whether it was just her paranoia or not, but it _was_ something she needed to bring up. She'd almost forgot!

"Two things happened. One at my school, I guess I kind of zoned out during class…" Ellen shot her a punishing look, to which she smiled innocently and moved on as quickly as she could. "We had a substitute teacher and I _thought_, I think it was just paranoia, but the teacher called me _Jo_, not _Avery_." Ellen's face dropped and her eyes started widening. "Then, I guess Chloe overheard me talking to the dog and she told two girls that I was the daughter of the Colorado Mafia." Ellen's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes clenched shut.

"Can you describe the teacher, Jo?"

"Tall, maybe six foot one, long brown hair. She had a bit of a rough voice and very tight lips that seemed to be in a scowl but I'm not sure…" As she went on with her description, she could see her mom beginning to pale, this concerned her deeply. Fear shrouded her heart and she stopped talking, questioning mentally whether or not there was anything to be afraid of. "Mom?" Stan perked his head up from his paws and whined at the woman. He turned his head towards the window and gazed out for what seemed like an eternity.

They thought nothing of it.

"When I was with your father, one of my closest friends was the wife of his underboss. She is exactly as you described, Louise Bendetta." The name struck Jo and she instantly pictured the woman, she hadn't seen Mrs. Bendetta in a _long_ time, but she knew who she was. The woman was always around, throwing parties all the time. "If she saw you, she would know you."

"But she was_ your_ friend, so there's nothing to worry about, right?" Ellen tensed up and turned her eyes towards the window Stan was staring at. Sure, nothing was set in stone. After all, their leaving was seen as betrayal to the mafia, and therefore even Mrs. Bendetta _could_ be against them. "You think Vladimir would tell?" Vladimir was Louise's husband and Underboss. He was _extremely_ loyal to the mob in every way, if someone told him to jump, he would jump. So the minute she asked the question, she scolded herself.

"Likely if they knew where we were, yes they would tell Daniel." It was irritating, fearing for their lives and always feeling as though they'd be forced to be on the run. Why couldn't they just settle down and live their lives in _peace?_ She clenched her fists and pounded them on the bed once, growling slightly. Ellen sighed and slowly ran her fingers through Jo's hair.

"I wish I could appeal to Don Bosca like before, but I don't think the Italian mafia would do us any more favors." It hadn't been their don that they appealed to for protection, just the guards at that diner and the park, but surely they could seek protection within the Italian mafia. "Daniel wouldn't dare interfere with them."

"There_ was_ a reason we even got help from them before, Mom. It wasn't simply because we appealed to them. They had to help us." It was really the Underboss that was appealed to, without much effort. He was the one that made the call that the Italian Mafia was to help them. They'd been friendly with the him once.

"Yeah." She closed her eyes and exhaled softly. "And it's probably just a one time thing too. You know how the mafia is, they won't always do favors. Or maybe they will, I don't know. I tend to get your father's confused with the Corleone-Bosca mafia family. You know Daniel only defected from the Italian mafia because he couldn't play by _their_ rules."

"Yeah…so do you think Mrs. Bendetta seeing me could be a problem?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest, but I think we definitely need to tell Bennett and the others." Would they have to go on the run _again_? Was there ever any hope of escaping the mob? It seemed like the only way to escape the mafia was to run to the arms of another mafia, or to eliminate the one mafia altogether. "So if you'll be strong and I'll be strong, we can do this."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to play 20 questions with them about the mafia, to be honest." She rubbed her arm and looked towards the photo of Gabe, muttering to herself. It didn't seem safe in any way to bring up their ties to the mob, and of course, it was a big risk. She lifted her eyes skyward and cursed herself, having turned into more of a risk taker lately, she was tempted to do this. "You know…on another note, I would love to go back into martial arts. I think we closed that door to our life, though."

"Sadly, you can never be too sure who or what is out there." Jo sighed despairingly and looked to Stan. The dog hopped off the bed and moved to the door, putting his paw in the crack and opening it just enough to slip out. Her eyebrows rose and her eyes drifted towards the window, what _had _he been staring at? She slowly moved from the bed and towards the window, gripping the windowsill as she scanned the yard. "What's wrong?" She narrowed her eyes and slowly shook her head, she could see nothing out of place. Stan was possibly eyeing a squirrel or something.

"I don't know, I just have this feeling…something's not right, but I can't place it." She _had_ been rather paranoid lately, it wasn't a good feeling looking over your shoulder all the time. With a deep breath, she turned from the window and looked towards the door. Really, there was no other alternative, they had to let the family know the truth. "I guess…paranoia comes with territory, mom."

"I'm sorry baby…I know it's not easy…"

"Yeah." Her voice softened and her eyes dipped towards the floor. She clenched her fists and scowled as her heart slammed repeatedly against her chest. "Being terrorized by your father, looking over your shoulder, fearing for your life, losing your boyfriend…yeah, how could any of it be easy."

"Sometimes I regret meeting Daniel. But then, I wouldn't have had you, and you…are worth all of this." Jo lifted her eyes towards her mother's loving gaze, her heart swelled and the corners of her lips tucked upwards. She was happy to be her mother's world, no doubt about that. Ellen moved over to her and hugged her once more, then leaned back and rested her hands on her shoulders. "No matter what happens, I will always love you. We're a team, you and I, and now we have more people with us who love us too." She chuckled nervously and glanced past her mother, still feeling overly weary about the whole idea.

"I hope they'll still feel that way after we tell them about our past and everything." Ellen looked back and nodded. She was trembling, a sign she was nervous as well. Yet, the look on her face was of strong confidence and determination, and that was something that _always_ inspired Jo. No matter what, she could always relax and be reassured when her mother was confident.

"If they're the people that we know and love, if they are the type of people I think they are, then I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

"And then what? Are we running again? Do you think we have to?" Ellen frowned at the question and moved her hand towards her head. She sighed heavily as Jo glanced back towards the window. "Of course…it's not like there's an easy answer to that. When running from the mafia…_and_ father…"

* * *

It's going to be coming to a head rather soon, but do tell me your thoughts. Oh, and any thoughts on the Underboss for the Italian Mafia? (AKA the _good_ mafia)


	6. The Truth Comes Out

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 6 (The Truth Comes Out)

Jo followed her mom out of the bedroom, clutching Gabe's ball cap in her left hand. Everyone was in the living room, to no surprise, all on the couch watching television. Bennett looked up with a smile, pointing towards the television, "Tyler dragged me into watching this stuff." Tyler glanced over, shushing his father. Chloe was in between the two, her arms crossed and her eyes studying the screen with great intensity. Stan was curled on the floor, his head on his paws and his eyes closed.

"This is my favorite movie!" Tyler exclaimed with an overabundance of enthusiasm in his voice. "I got the whole series on DVD _and_ all the games for it." Jo walked around the couch, curious as to what movie Tyler was watching. When she saw _The Godfather_ playing, she froze, turning pale as a ghost. Her heart began speeding up, sending her into near panic mode. She sneered at the screen and slowly shook her head, remaining outwardly calm.

"Seriously? The Godfather?" She knew of the truth behind The Godfather movies, only because of her involvement with the mob. Now the misconception that everyone had was that the Corleone family were real, that Don Bosca was somehow related to the Corleone family. It is true the events and the people in the movies and books _were_ true, but as with every movie that was based on a true story, the Corleone family was, in reality, the Bosca family. Her father had been mistaken when he told the Colorado Mafia that the Corleone family existed and the don of the head family was _related_ to them.

No, the Bosca family was the Corleone family. Sure Don Bosca was likely a cousin, as Michael 'Corleone' Bosca truly _did_ die alone in the 90s several years after the murder of his daughter. The truth of the matter was, if written by an inside man, who would want to use the mobster's real name? If they're chronicling all the crimes that happened, then people would raise their eyebrows. No. The last name had to be changed, it had to be fake. So people would think it only fiction.

The movies themselves didn't sit well with Jo, she could never stomach them. Being in the life meant you saw and knew several things, and everything she ever saw in her experiences with the mafia, instilled nightmares for her. Therefore, watching the movies only disgusted her, nothing more.

"Why can't I picture you liking the godfather?" She leaned over the back of the couch and narrowed her eyes on the screen. They were at the baptism scene, where Michael Corleone waits as his made men kill off the dons of the rival families one by one. "Also, why is _Chloe_ watching?" Chloe looked up at her and flashed a toothy grin.

"I'm allowed."

"I see…So you guys _like_ the mafia?" She raised an eyebrow as Ellen brought her fingertips to her forehead. Bennett pointed to Tyler and Chloe shrugged.

"I find all things mafia related fascinating," Tyler explained hap-heartedly. Jo folded her arms across her chest and smirked at him, would he still think the same if he knew what the mafia was all about? It wasn't as glamorous as _The Godfather _seemed to be. Sure the people and events were factual, but even still, some things had been embellished. They would had to have been, in order to be glamorized and to make people enjoy them. "There's just an allure to it."

"Right…because it's all about power and respect." Which was true. She flicked her finger at the screen and lifted her eyebrows. "Of course the Corleone family owns all of New York, has several business in various other states, including parts of Colorado." Ellen lowered her hand, staring at Jo with a stunned expression. It took her a second to realize she'd just blurted out her knowledge of the mafia, but hopefully the family wouldn't pick up on it. Tyler and Bennett slowly turned towards her. Their eyebrows were high, their lips curled in confusion.

"You _are_ aware it's just a movie."

"I wish." She pushed herself from the couch and walked over to the coffee table, picked up the remote, and paused the movie. Tyler yelled out and reached for the remote, but Jo instantly shoved it into her back pocket. It was time to make their announcement. After having blurted out what she did, there really was no other option. "Check your facts, though no one outside of the mafia really would or _should_ know, _The Godfather_ is real. Michael Corleone existed, Tom Hagen existed, and hell…Luca Brasi was an enforcer for the family that was murdered by a rival mafia family."

Her mom reached her hand out. "Avery, honey." Her mom was sweating, anxiety stretched across her eyes, and her body was beginning to tremble.

Jo was just as nervous, her stomach was doing flips and kicks like it was trying to jump out of her body. She couldn't stop now. She studied her stepfather's and Brother's faces, tempted to run from them with fire on her heels, but she shoes to divulge the rest of her tale. "Mom and I need to confess something to you guys…" Chloe's eyes went large and she quickly leaned forward, eager to hear what she already knew. Stan's eyes shot open and he lifted his head, whining once as his right ear perked up. "This is serious, okay?" Tyler gave her a funny look and leaned back with a smug grin.

"It's kind of hard to take seriously when you say _The Godfather_ is real." She raised an eyebrow and moved her hands to her hips. Bennett chuckled in reply, glancing off towards the dog.

"That would be like saying Stan could talk," he chided. Stan's eyes rolled and he slowly moved over, sitting on Bennett's shoes. "Hey!"

"I've never seen The Godfather movies the whole way through, but I could tell you everything that ever happened in them. The events that occur, they're real. The people in there existed, but with different names of course. Actually it's the Bosca family." Bennett's face fell and Tyler's mouth parted into a wide circle, of course they recognized the Bosca family. "Right now in the Italian mafia business, the Bosca family is the single-most largest mafia family with the most connections. They own all the businesses and rackets in Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey, the entire eastern coast, Las Vegas. No other mafia family is near as strong in those states and no one tries to challenge them, they have a very strong respect and order going on there. They have some owned businesses in almost every other state, and could very well take Colorado at this point, _if they wanted_. There's only one mafia family standing in the way of them owning all of Colorado…"

"And what mafia family is that? Why do you know all this?"

"Because…" She closed her eyes and Ellen held her breath. "My grandfather worked for the Bosca family back in the fifties." Silence filled the room, no one dared to speak. She could feel the tension beating against her, and more than ever, she wished that she could read their minds. Now the cat was out of the bag for good, she absolutely could not hold back. "Frank Beppe. My father, Daniel, grew up wanting more power. He wanted to be the Don, but you don't get to be a Don when you're just a lowly little associate. No you have to work your way up, get recognized, and _maybe_ the Don will make you a Don of your own family. Dad was _never_ willing to do the work, so he left."

"You can leave the mafia?"

"Yes…well, at least the Italians let you leave. The thing of it is, Dad formed his own mafia, doesn't really follow the rules, which is a reason the Bosca family never recognized him. He didn't play by the rules, he had no respect for the family." Tyler and Bennett glanced at each other, both pale and trembling, which was what Jo expected from her revelation. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "My dad now owns half of Colorado's businesses, he's the don of the Colorado Mafia. I…am the daughter of the mafia…"

For what felt like an eternity, both Bennett and Tyler could only stare at her and Ellen. Chloe had sunk down beside Stan and was holding her arms around his neck. Stan, of course, was glaring at the front door. She could see the two were struggling to believe her words. Bennett slowly shook his head, rubbing his forehead furiously as Tyler stammered.

"H-How can that be?" Tyler asked. "I mean…You're Avery."

"I am who I act as, and so is Mom. The only thing we've changed are our names, that's _it_." Bennett lowered his hand and Tyler frowned, questioning why they had to change anything. She knew what they must be thinking, how could this Don Beppe ever let them go? "This ball cap I'm holding? It belonged to my boyfriend, Gabe, he lives in Denver…I left him because Mom and I had to go on the run."

"I don't understand," Bennett began, finally mustering the energy to speak. "Y-You two are on the run? From what? Your father?"

"And the entire Colorado Mafia. Our only source of protection in getting out of Denver was through the Bosca family. My father's mafia fears them, but they've formed a bit of an agreement, an alliance, if you will…not important…The thing is, the police chief of Denver is on _their_ ticket, and that same Chief wanted to arrest my father for the charges. His consigliere told him to leave, and he did, he moved somewhere to Cuba. Mom _refused_ that we go. But when you're in the Colorado Mafia, you can't leave. Under no circumstances, if you defect, you're gunned down."

"That doesn't sound right!" Chloe interjected. "Why would they make that rule when the Italian family said you're allowed to leave!"

"I did say my father didn't follow rules…" She moved her hands to the hem of her shirt and slowly closed her eyes. She knew they still didn't believe, whether they didn't _want_ to believe it or if they just thought she was making it all up, she would have to prove it to them. "Another reason we left, the Italian mafia will not recruit anyone under the age of sixteen…My father has no limits on age whatsoever." She heard her mother protest, but turned around still and lifted her shirt. Tears welled up in her eyes as the three on the couch gasped at the scars on her back. Ellen cried out and Jo clenched her teeth. Her back was covered with scars from old fights that her father and his men would send her into.

"Oh my god!" Bennett exclaimed, rising up from the couch in an angry tone. "What kind of person would do that to a child?"

"My father." She lowered her shirt back down and turned, wiping her misty eyes. She looked up to Bennett and swallowed whatever else remained of her pride. Her heart was beating erratically at this point, and she was ready to run away once more. Stan moved from Chloe and started to move towards the door. "Gabe used to question why I was always tough, aggressive…I was a black belt in karate, had a love for martial arts. I obviously never told him it was because my father would send me in to various businesses to extort and take over the place. I was around when he wiped out the only remaining rival family in Colorado, I was forced to be a part of that war. I know the mafia inside and out, because when you're the don's daughter, you need to know the mafia. Although, unlike my dad, I learned everything about the Bosca family mafia too…I had a couple, perks, if you will..."

"Why did you never tell us?" Bennett looked to Ellen, slightly hurt. "Ellen?" Ellen bit her lip and slowly shook her head.

"We thought you wouldn't anything to do with us," Ellen replied. "That, and, we put our pasts away so my ex husband couldn't find us. We never wanted to put you in danger, because we love you. I can understand if you don't-"

"We accept you just fine," Tyler interjected. Everyone was shocked that he interrupted. He stood up and moved over, hugging both Ellen and Jo. "Dad, Chloe and I love you guys no matter what. Just, don't keep anything from us, we're family too you know." This was a great relief to hear, she'd been afraid they would tell the two to get out and never show their faces again. "So you guys are on the run from the mafia, I don't think we can be found…"

"That's just it," Ellen began. "Vladimir was Daniel's underboss, we think his wife might have spotted Jo." Tyler's mouth fell open and Bennett's eyebrows rose. "If that's the case-" Suddenly Stan began barking like a maniac. Jo's gaze hurried to him as he circled in place beside the door. His bark was deep as a warning bark would be. Ellen's eyes grew large, and in an instant the glass windows shattered in place. "Everyone dive!"

Jo covered her face with her arms, screaming out as smoke filled the room and. The front door flew open and the family landed on the ground with hard thumps. She felt herself being yanked and looked down to see Stan, the only thing she could see in the thick smog that was now filling the room. "Don't breathe it in," Stan pleaded. She continued holding her breath and let him lead her into the kitchen where it was clear.

"Oh god, they're here aren't they?" Jo pressed her back on the kitchen door, whimpering slightly. She heard someone banging from the other side, possibly kicking it with their foot. "Stan! What are we going to do!"

"Open the fucking door, Jo!" It was a man's voice, but not her father. Her dad was too cowardly to come back to the states, he would have had to send someone for her. "Don't even think about running out the back, either!" Her chest was throbbing and tears were burning her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked towards the back door where Stan was facing in a low growl. The back door slid open and a woman with long red hair and a cold smirk slowly stepped in. Jo narrowed her eyes on the woman. She had a large bust, slender arms and legs, a black jumpsuit and purple gloves.

"Hello Jo…We're here to take you and your mother to your father. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but we need to work fast. You see, the Underboss of the Bosca family has shown an interest in locating you as well." Jo's heart stopped and her eyes shot wide open. _He_ was searching for her too? "You understand? We have to go." She slowly pointed her finger to the woman, glancing down at Stan. She wasn't sure she wanted to do this, but there was no real option.

"Stan, attack!" He gave her one look, then bolted for the woman, lurching forward and clamping his teeth onto her wrist. The woman screamed out and recoiled back.

"Damn mutt!" Suddenly the door behind her flew open, throwing her to the floor. Stan shot over to her and stood above her, guarding her as she looked around at the three men and the woman that now surrounded her. "Shoot the goddamn dog." She gasped and reached up, holding Stan protectively.

"No!" She narrowed her eyes at the group, not daring to look away for one second. "Fine, I'll go along. But I swear if you shoot my dog…" She growled at them and shook her head. "Your boss is still my dad, and if you shoot my dog, I can make sure he makes the rest of your life a living hell." The group muttered and the woman scoffed.

"Fine. We'll take the dog too." Jo smirked triumphantly and quickly pushed the ball cap of Gabe's into her shirt. She didn't want to lose it, not knowing where she was headed. If it was the only thing that would keep her sane, then so be it. "Okay! Load them up! We leave Denver as soon as we get there."

"Why Denver?" The woman gave her a scornful look and shrugged her shoulders.

"Simply because that is where our personal jet is. What airport will take a family of hostages overseas? Kiss your life goodbye, _Avery_, when we get to your father…you are not leaving his sight."

* * *

No! They found them! What did you guys think of the talk about the Godfather movie? A lot of secrets. By the way, my usual readers will notice a glaring clue in regards to the identity of the Underboss for the Italian family. Remember that the Underboss is underboss through rigorous training because he is not only slated to be the next Don, but he is also set to marry the Don's daughter. Now, what do you think of the events that occurred in this chapter?


	7. Captivity and Cunning

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 7 (Captivity and Cunning)

Jo slowly opened her eyes, moaning as her head throbbed. Her eyes adjusted to a darkened area and her body was jumping in various directions. She felt her wrists and groaned when she realized they were bound by rope in her lap. She tapped the back of her head on a metallic surface and squinted at a small beam of sunlight striking her in the face. Sweat was pouring down her body, it felt as though she were sitting in a hot oven.

To her right, she saw her mother laying in a curled position, hands behind her back and blindfold over her eyes. A few feet beyond her was Bennett in an upright position on the wall of this metal box they were trapped in. He had his hands tied together in front of him and a blindfold over his face. Tyler was seated behind him in the same posture. To her left was Chloe, her head in Jo's lap. Stan was seated upright, watching over them. "Stan?" Her voice was weary and weak, and her eyes were still trying to adjust, all she could truly see of her family were their outlines and shadows. "Where are we?"

"In the back of an eighteen wheeler…" Stan whispered his words, possibly in case her mother or father we awake at all. Judging by the fact that they weren't moving any meant they were likely still asleep, or _worse_. The fear that it could be something worse, like death, gripped her heart like a cat gripping a weak mouth in a death grip. They couldn't be dead, though, her father wouldn't allow it. At least, he wouldn't allow _Ellen_ to be killed.

"Oh god, Stan…" A lump formed in her throat as she struggled in her binds. "Bennett, Tyler, Chloe…they're all innocent in this. They don't deserve this…please, please tell me they're-"

"Alive. Don't worry, I've been keeping watch. It's just _really_ hot in here." She closed her eyes and leaned back on the metal wall, praying her vision would adjust quickly. "They're all asleep still, amazingly. We've been on the road for, I don't know how long. I removed your blindfold, obviously. Took a bit of licking to wake you…" Her cheek _did_ feel wet, so that explained the reason.

"Thanks, I guess." Remembering what the woman said before she'd been knocked out while moving towards the truck, she was shocked that she'd be going through Denver. Never before had she thought this would be how she was going back. She looked down at her chest, feeling the ball cap scraping around under her shirt. "Could you…could you grab the hat out? It's at the tip of my shirt. I couldn't bear to be apart from it…I needed something of Gabe's to keep me sane…"

"Right." He carefully reached his snout over and removed the cap, letting it fall into her lap beside Chloe's head. "I'm sorry all of you got caught up in this mess. We never meant for it…" She clenched her eyes shut, cursing herself for not attacking the woman. Granted, no amount of her martial arts could really have held off four mobsters. "Why isn't anyone else awake?"

"I think it was some kind of gas they used. All that smoke…"

"Doesn't surprise me…" She only breathed in a small amount of it, so likely it was well out of her system. Of course, someone hit her over the head when she was in the back of the truck. "I hope Gabe's okay. I know they would know his involvement with me, so I have no clue if they tried to do anything with him." They wouldn't, they couldn't be _that _stupid. Or really, they could be, considering nobody in her father's mafia knew a thing about people of interest. She lifted her eyes to Stan, her vision finally returning to normal. She could see him well among the streams of light coming from what appeared to be old bullet holes. "Stan, I'm sorry I made you attack that lady."

"I'm sure he's fine. Also, it doesn't matter, if I need to attack someone to protect my family, so be it. Any ideas as to what we can do to get away from these people?"

"There _is_ something, but it's a bit of a stretch." She looked down to her hands, then to her left pocket. There was a rectangular bulge from within, indicating her cell phone was, miraculously, _still_ in her pockets. With a scoff, she smirked and moved her hands over her pocket while twisting her thighs in the direction of the hands. "God they never think things through. My phone's still in here, if it's on…"

"You going to call the cops?"

Cops would be nice, but to be honest, every police officer within Colorado was involved with one of the two mafias. "No, there's no use in that, they won't do a damn thing. I have to call someone else, someone they wouldn't expect." She poked her thumbs in the pocket and groaned, "Help me out here, Stan."

"Okay." He started to push the rectangle with his snout until it was just within range of her thumbs. When she pulled it out, she flipped it open and used her thumbs to bring out the contact list. "An old friend that Teddy met long ago is part of the Cuban mafia…" The dog tilted his head and Jo quickly glanced towards him. "Teddy is Gabe's older sister. He kept in touch with our family, mostly just talking with PJ. He's got Cuban relatives around Colorado."

"I thought there were no other mafias in Colorado?"

"There aren't." She hovered over the name of Deuce Martinez, smirking as her thumb rested above the call button. Her first thought was that there would be some sort of recording technology, but then she had to take in the stupidity of her father's people. "Deuce's family just lives out here, but being a part of the mafia, they know how to deal with stuff. I have an idea, but first, look through those holes and see if you can see any signs."

"All right…"

As he did this, she struck the call button and put the phone on speaker. She was beginning to wonder why Stan hadn't just taken off the ropes with his teeth. Chloe's head had rolled off her leg during all of this movement and was now resting beside Jo. The phone rested in the crevice of her legs, ringing until Deuce managed to answer. "My phone says 'Jo calling' and I think to myself, _Jo?_ I haven't talked to you in forever!"

"Yeah, hello to you too, Deuce. Sorry about the forever timeline. I need to call in a favor…" She glanced up at Stan and winced as he kept glancing out of one of the larger holes, relatively the size of the spot on his eye. "You know my dad's left to Cuba-"

"Right, my Dad said his men did some stuff down there." Deuce's father was the underboss for the Cuban mafia, which had strong connections in Cuba as well as a Sicilian mafia. Her father should know better than to piss off either group. "So what's going on? You didn't go to Cuba huh."

"No, Mom and I got out, but Dad's uh…he's found us. I don't know what's going on, all I know is I think he's going to try taking us there. We're all trapped in the back of a big rig and we need some assistance here." She heard Deuce gasp, then waited for him to ask where they were at. Stan said he saw a sign saying 25-N, then they were 10 miles outside of Denver. "We're on Interstate 25 northbound, 10 miles towards Denver. The eighteen wheeler should have a ton of bullet holes."

"Oh another thing," Stan recalled, "The side of the truck said Sloane Oil, but there was a big streak of paint crossed over it." Jo winked at him and gave the info to Deuce, knowing that would narrow things down tremendously. There was a wait of about two minutes with him talking in the background, it wasn't long until he returned, however.

"All right, I've already contacted my cousin. They said they're actually there a couple miles ahead of you. They're going to try to stop the truck, but remember it's on the freeway, they can't do anything other than make it stop. They have to keep driving."

"I understand." She wasn't thinking about what would happen _after_ the truck stopped, or even how she could help her family get away. "If they can make them get off the freeway first, I'd appreciate that."

"Right, just remember to _stay down_. My cousins are in a low car, so if your father's people are smart, they'll know to get off the freeway in that big rig."

"Of course." She was trying to think about something else. If they were in a truck belonging to _Sloane Oil_, that meant they owned that particular racket warehouse. In which case, if she remembered where Sloane Oil was in Denver, she would know where to go. It was on the outskirts, there _was_ an open field with a private airline company nearby, so it made sense they would go there. "Deuce, is it possible you can ask your cousins to go to the Sloane Oil Refinery warehouse outside of Denver?"

"Not without starting a war, and what's about to happen is going to be close to starting a war. We'd rather avoid it at all costs. Because you're a friend, we're willing to do this. My cousin said he's not going to do anything else."

"Okay. I understand." Stan slowly laid on his belly and Jo started to move onto her back, unsure of when Deuce's cousin would show up. The car hit a bump in the road that caused both Bennett and Tyler to fall onto their sides, much to Jo's gratefulness. If anyone was to be shooting up the truck, she did _not_ want them to be hit.

"Jo, they're behind your truck! Get down now!"

"Got it." She flipped over, stretching her arms out and covering Chloe. Stan put his paws over his head and clenched his eyes shut. Within the next few seconds, a hail of bullets followed an explosion, more holes were punched in the walls above the family. Jo could feel shells landing on her and bouncing off, but thankfully no bullets were hitting anyone.

The truck swerved violently and someone sounded their horn. Jo let out a loud scream as Stan slid along the floor and bumped into her, the hail of gunfire did not cease for another couple of minutes, which felt like an eternity. She could hear the engine sputtering as she and her family all continued to roll about the place. She heard Deuce's voice on the phone saying the truck just took the Denver exit while his cousins drove onward. She opened her eyes slowly and saw the doors on the back fly off. Screaming, Stan had fallen out with the ball cap. "Stan! No!"

She pulled herself up and started to make her way to the edge of the box, gripping on the edge as it bounced with the truck. In the distance, she saw Stan had landed safely on a patch of grass, the ball cap beside him. She put her hand to her mouth and called out to him, but the truck was speeding too far away. "Stan!"

They were on a side road now, she could tell with the sound of cars zipping by above them. Cars were honking at the speeding truck, but fortunately there were not many on the road. Now just a blur in the distance, she saw Stan get up with the ball cap on his head and carefully make his way across the street. Her heart clenched to a halt and she began looking left and right in an attempt to locate where she was. She had to remember this location!

Her eyes remained frozen ahead of her and she did not move a muscle for what must have been miles, trying to figure out how she could get out and get to her dog. By now, she knew there was too much land, so in essence, she'd just lost her dog. Tears ran down her face as the bitter wind beat against her. She felt the truck swerve one time, then the right door that was still attached to the back came slamming to a shut. With a violent scream, she released her hand from the edge, but in doing so, fell from the back as the truck turned a corner.

She landed on a soft patch of grass near a gas station and rolled several feet towards the side road and oncoming cars. With her heart speeding out of control, she clenched her hands on the tufts of grass and dirt. Her body rolled on, pulling violently at her arms, but fortunately for her, the force saved her from being road kill.

Jo moaned lightly, tasting blood and grass in her mouth. As she lifted her head, she saw the truck disappearing into the distance, her family _and_ phone still inside the vehicle. "N-No…I-I can't, I…find them…" Her eyes rolled into the back of their sockets and her head fell onto the grass, her vision blacking out and consciousness lost. What she felt after the loss of consciousness were hands grabbing at her arms, she could only pray they were good people.

* * *

What are your thoughts on the chapter? What do you think of what Jo has done? At least both she and Stan are out, looks like Stan's got a plan.


	8. Mysterious Connection

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 8 (Mysterious Connection)

Stan watched the car drive away into the distance from the other side of the road, whimpering as he studied his left paw. Fortunately nothing was broken, but he came close. He managed to salvage the ball cap, hopefully able to hold onto it for Jo. "What am I going to do_ now_?" He looked around at the places nearby and sniffed the air. A sweet but spicy aroma hit his nostrils and started a craving for barbeque. "I _am_ hungry!"

He was at odd ends, find the food, or figure out how to help Jo and the family. At this point, he had no clue where he was other than Denver. He had no idea where to go or what to do, and nobody was going to be looking for him. "No time to cry or be afraid, I have to figure things out." He broke off into a run, making sure the ball cap remained on his head. He'd recently sniffed it and caught a foreign scent that didn't belong to him, Jo, or any of the family members. However, given the previous owner of the cap _and_ the fact that Jo never wore it, his best guess was Gabe.

As he ran, the thought struck him, he would have to locate Gabe. Maybe, _somehow_, Gabe could help. Granted he had absolutely no idea how Gabe could help, but right now, that guy was the only thing keeping Stan from being just another stray in the streets of Denver.

_"Speaking of strays…"_ He stopped behind a fence and peered around it to see a dog catcher's truck driving past. "Already spent my time in the slammer, and I'm not going back there!" Fortunately, with the stray animals along with the scent in the hat, he could probably track Gabe down. Would it be enough to save Jo? Would it be enough to save the family? "Worth a shot." Once again, he bolted forward with a mission in his mind.

He did have his doubts, but he refused to let those burden him. Wherever Gabe Duncan was, he _would_ find him. His limbs ached a bit, burning as he had not run so fast in so long, but he pressed onwards into the big city. He wasn't going to waste a single minute, no matter how much he had to push on, he would find help even if it killed him. He was a dog, after all. Hell-bent on rescuing his family.

"Are you ready for your first transport mission?" Rodney looked _pissed_ as he and Gabe drove towards some warehouse near the outskirts of town. He didn't know what was going on other than Rodney called him moments ago with urgent business that was to be taken care of. "Don Beppe's ordered a couple hostages to be transported to where he is located at. You are to help by standing guard."

"Standing guard? That's all I'm needed for?" Rodney's angry face sneered as he cut off a vehicle and flipped them off once they honked. Gabe wasn't too sure he _wanted_ to be around with this guy. "If it's just standing guard…I'm guessing I don't know anything about the hostages or destination?"

"Of course. You're still just an associate in training, basically. You don't need to know the specifics, even if you are already a part. You don't get to know the who, the why, the when, where, or the how." He was fine with this, as long as he didn't have to deal with info he didn't want, he was fine. "You just need to observe, that's it. Observe and see how hostage transports work, because one day you'll probably be doing something like this. Just hopefully it will be under better circumstances."

"Better circumstances?"

"Yes, the truck had some issues on the way over. You'll _also_ be helping in the disposing of a body…" His eyes widened as Rodney nervously rubbed his forehead. "One of our own." Sighing with relief, Gabe looked out the window and slowly shook his head. At least no innocents were killed in this, he wouldn't want to be a part of that body disposal. Even still, he couldn't help but wonder what the hiccup was that happened on the way to the location.

"So, what was the issue? Traffic accident?"

"I wish, but that's what the drivers are playing it off as."

"I see."

Rodney turned another corner and cleared his throat. His eyes remained glued to the road ahead of him and sweat drenched the collar of his shirt. "The people being transported are a family. Former members of the mob, if you will." He rolled his eyes resisting the urge to shudder in his disgust. "That's all you get to know. The problem the driver had is some dumbasses in another car, probably just a common street gang, pulled up beside them and started shooting off a bunch of fucking clips!" Gabe choked in response. He glanced over, bewildered that a random gang could dare to attack a mafia driver like that. Chances are, it wasn't just a random hit. Why would it be?

"You don't honestly think it was a random hit, do you?"

"Not sure. In the getaway, the doors flew open. The dog they were carrying must have fallen out, and so did the girl." There was a girl involved in this? He raised an eyebrow and hummed his distaste, Rodney seemed to think nothing of it. "Unfortunately the girl that fell out was a key hostage, the Don is _not _going to be happy about this. We're going to have to initiate a search for her, but knowing how she works…we're pretty sure she knows how to elude us."

"So then, she's smart?"

"Smart? Of course she's smart! She's known to outfox the mafia in any case. It is best to never underestimate her." The description oddly reminded him of Jo. He chuckled at the memory of her using some of her martial arts moves on her. Rodney raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards him. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just…I used to know a girl like that." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, sighing deeply. "Love of my life, you know. She was beautiful, smart, witty, sarcastic and cunning…I never thought it was possible to love someone so much when you're my age, but…I fell for her. She disappeared a while back, but I've never stopped looking around."

"Ah, I see." Rodney smiled slightly and gave him a wink. "Girls like that, tough to come by and when you find them, they can be the best things to have in your life. Treat them right and they'll be beside you forever. But that's love."

"I suppose it is." He pushed his hands behind his head and glanced out the window, trying to push away his memory of Jo. He didn't want to think of her and wind up depressed on the job. If he had to stand guard for some transport thing, then he may as well keep focused. "Can't let them go, and I should never have let her go."

"Never know, maybe there were extenuating circumstances that didn't allow her to stick around for long."

"Maybe. I just wish I knew." The car pulled into a garage for _Sloane Oil Refinery_, one of the two oil refineries that the Colorado mafia owned, the Italian mafia owned the other two. Beside the location was a private airfield with a long jet sitting in the pasture. Beside the plane was a big eighteen wheeler filled with bullet holes. On the ground was a woman with vibrant red hair caked with blood. "Is that the one that got shot up?" Rodney glanced over as he and Gabe began to exit the car.

"Yeah. The first and only woman the Don's let into the Colorado Mafia."

"Damn." Several feet from the body was a man sitting with his back against the truck. His right shoulder and arm were covered in blood and his eyes remained glued on the body. "So how do we um…'dispose' of her body?" Rodney pointed towards a lake several feet away. A lump began forming in Gabe's throat and his body started heating up. He honestly wasn't sure if he could do this. _"Just…it's all to find Jo. Gain their trust and find Jo." _He closed his eyes and moved his hands to his stomach, the stench of blood was overwhelming!

"Gabe you can get queasy all you like, but you can't show it. You don't want the mafia to think you're weak, that's what all this training is, to desensitize you." He raised an eyebrow and followed Rodney towards the body. "You don't really get _used_ to death or the blood, but at the very least, you have to try and not let it affect you." Solid advice, but he honestly didn't know how to deal with it. How was he supposed to fight the disgust that death brought? "Think about that girl you told me about. If her life or death depended on you killing the one person that was threatening her, you would pull that trigger, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"There you have it, then. Now help me out here." A large block had already been tied to the woman's ankles, so she would definitely sink into the lake. He bent down and tucked his hands beneath the woman's ankles, keeping his shudder of disgust inside. Rodney put his hands under her back and the two heaved her from the ground with a loud grunt. "Be glad you're just disposing of one of our own right now…"

"Believe me, I'm more glad about that than you think." The Italian mafia wouldn't dispose of their own like this, at least he didn't think they would. In the corner of his eyes, he saw several men leading the hostages towards the jet. They each had bags over their heads. When he saw a child with him, his stomach curdled and shot bile up his throat. He forced it down and continued walking with Rodney towards the lake. "What does Don Beppe want with them? Can I ask that?"

"He just wants them. Unfortunately the girl that fell off the truck, I mentioned we're going to have to find her."

"Didn't the driver stop when they realized she fell off?"

"They know she fell off around the area that is mostly guarded with the Italian family, and they were already dealing with gunfire from what looked like a street gang, so they couldn't stop. They did stop at a gas station a couple miles down the road, then moved on." Perhaps this girl was safe, then, if she landed in Italian territory. Didn't he say there was a dog involved, though? The family pet, perhaps. Hopefully the dog would be okay. "Anyway, after this, we have another business for you to extort. It's near where you live, though, so you might want to be discreet about it."

"Don't I usually have to be?"

"Yeah."

Gabe looked down towards the woman as they stepped beside the lake, his heart cracked and he slowly shook his head. He once asked PJ, when playing a shooter video game, how it would be if it were real. PJ told him that the stuff in the games, like mafias and gangs, were very real, and that killing was never easy for anyone. Even police can't stomach it well, one would have to force themselves to do it.

"This woman. Did she have family?"

"No."

"Even if she did…"

"There's nothing we can do." Disheartened with the whole process, Gabe closed his eyes and helped Rodney toss her body into the lake. He looked towards the family being led into the plane and felt his stomach lurch, why did he want to stop them? There was a strange connection he felt towards them that he could neither understand nor explain.

The answer just wouldn't come to him, and he could only watch as the plane took off and flew into another direction. The sickening feeling it left him with made him regret working with these people, and still, Jo was the one reason that he didn't flee from this oil refinery.

* * *

Oh Gabe, you aren't even _aware_ of what you could have just stopped. Rodney's a prick isn't he though? Well, what are your thoughts, folks?


	9. Racing of the Heart

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: Sorry it took so long, I wanted to get my two other stories done uploading due to their already being completed. Now that they are out of the way, I give to you, Chapter 9!

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Chapter 9 (Racing of the Heart)

Jo opened her eyes and quickly sat up, astonished when a soft wet rag fell from her forehead. She looked around a dim lit room and tapped her fingers on a soft and leathery couch. The room looked like a shrine devoted to eighties music, with posters on the yellow walls of famous big haired musicians with oddly shaped guitars. Her stomach churned with disgust, as she loathed eighties music.

One of the first things she noticed were her wrists were unbound, something she was immensely grateful for. She lifted her hands up and looked from the palm to the back, she had scrapes and bruises all along her hands and forearms. Her head was still throbbing, and when she moved her fingers to her forehead, she felt a soft white gauze taped to her head. Her eyes drifted towards a small doorway with a wide crack in between the door and its frame, wide enough she could see a cash register outside.

There was a chubby woman in her upper forties or fifties. She had a round face and blonde hair falling in wavy curls over her shoulders. She had high cheekbones, a kindred smile, and soft looking eyes. No matter how nice this woman was, though, Jo wasn't one to trust just anyone. The woman glanced over at the room, her eyes sparkling when she saw Jo. Jo smiled weakly and waved her hand, wincing as the woman called out to her husband.

"Paul, she's awake!" An older man rounded the corner of the register, he was bald and scrawny like a small tree. Glasses rested on the edge of his nose and a moustache covered the edges of his upper lip. The couple made their way into the room. "Good afternoon." She raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the window on the far wall. It sure didn't _feel _like a good afternoon. "Our son, and Paul were outside cleaning the lot when they saw you rolling out on the grass. They brought you in and we medicated your wounds." So why hadn't they called the police? She smiled graciously at the two and nodded her head.

"Thanks. Have either of you seen my dog, by any chance? White with black spots, looks like a border collie."

"No dear, we haven't." She closed her eyes and winced. If she couldn't find her dog, then her next step would be to figure out how to find Gabe's house from wherever she was. She also needed to make sure wherever she stopped at was guarded by the Bosca family mafia. She couldn't risk a run in with the Colorado mafia at this point. "We thought about calling the police, but we wanted to make sure you were okay first."

"Great. Don't call the police, trust me on that." The two frowned as Jo started to sit up, groaning as pain shot through her body. "If you do, you'll probably only be putting yourself at risk."

"What's your name dear?"

"Rachel." She hated to lie to such a nice and helpful couple, but she wasn't going to dare to use either her real name or her alias name that the mafia likely knew by now. "And the drivers of that truck were of the Colorado Mafia. Which means I need to get moving." The woman rested a gentle hand on her forearm and Jo quickly glared down at it.

"But dearie you're hurt, it would be bad for you to try and move."

"I can handle it. I appreciate your help, I really do, but I _need_ to move. It's for your own safety ma'am. I'd recommend you close shop for a while and get out as well…" She tapped her chin and glanced at the door. "Is this in the territory of the Italian Mafia?"

"We're the only ones around here not giving our money to a mafia," Paul remarked. He jerked his thumb towards the right and groaned. "Even our neighbors are paying to give their money to the Italian mafia."

"They'll give you protection, much needed protection. _Trust me_, you're going to need it." She put her hand to her back and started trying to get up. The woman looked hurt as she tried to help Jo out. She turned her eyes to them and smiled sadly. "Listen. I am the daughter of the Colorado Mafia's Don." The couple gasped and she quickly lifted her eyes towards the sky. "My mother and I tried to get away from them, and we _did_. They found us, and now we're in danger. Almost anyone we come to is in danger. That's why I suggest you either close down shop and _get out of town_ while you can, or enlist the help of the Italian mafia. My father's mafia wouldn't _dare_ screw around with them."

The woman folded her hands in front of her waist and tilted her head slightly. Worry filled her eyes and her forehead creased beneath her blonde bangs. "But if you can't move-"

"I'll be fine, really. I studied martial arts for a while, so I know how to endure the pain." It wasn't just that, but she didn't really want to tell them that she'd been shot at and knifed throughout her life. The CPS was _not_ someone she wanted to deal with right now. "Again, thank you so much for your hospitality. Please heed my advice, you're a really nice couple and I _don't_ want anything to happen to you." The woman smiled at her and slowly nodded her head.

"Okay sweetie, we'll think of something."

"Great." Within minutes she made her way out of the back and was limping from building to building. She was constantly looking over her shoulder and trying to remember what places were owned by the Italians. "I need to find a map…it's been too long."

Gabe never returned home after dealing with the disposal of the mafia woman. He talked to PJ and his family on the phone, said he'd be gone for the remainder of the day and not to worry about him. Somehow he wanted to suspect PJ might come looking for him eventually, but he didn't want to risk that.

His stomach still curdled and the stench of blood never left him. The frightened expression of the woman haunted him, but he could do nothing about it now. There was no sense in crying over it. He didn't want to go back to his family, not now. He was in no mood to deal with them. His emotions were shot and his mind was screaming at him.

PJ's words over the phone also haunted him, he hadn't the slightest clue why he would suggest what he had. _If you run into any trouble, go down to Sable's Diner and give me a call. _There was no way he could go to Sable's Diner even if he ran into some kind of trouble. Then again, he probably _could_, considering he wasn't that afraid of the Italian mafia members guarding the place. For some reason, the guards always treated him well, but would they if they knew he was a part of the CO Mafia? This wasn't something he was sure of, and it sure wasn't something he wanted to test.

Now he stood before a small time jewel shop, _Mai's Jewelry_. He folded his arms across his chest and turned his gaze towards the sunset. At least he could handle taking over small businesses, the bigger stuff almost sickened him.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this…I just have to get them to trust me, that's _all_. Then they'll tell me about Jo." Rodney seemed to trust him so far, but he still wasn't sure if that guy trusted him one bit. He felt around his back pocket and sighed as he gripped the edge of the snub nose gun Rodney gave him for this job. He was also instructed that if he had to smash the place in order to get the owner to side with them, to do so. "Fuck it, I'm going in…"

Stan moved around the corner of a foreign street, his paws raw and his body burned like a wildfire. Fleas had attached themselves to him somewhere along the way, but it was worth it. The street he was on now riddled with the scent of Gabe, so he knew he had to be close.

The thought hadn't crossed his mind yet as to what he would do when he found Gabe. At this point, he didn't really feel like playing charades with the human boy. The question still remained, _how_ would they find Jo or the family?

To his right he saw a large honey colored dog walking the streets, he had a plain collar around his neck and drool dripping from the flaps around his snout. Stan chuckled at the sight and looked up towards the clouds. "Gabe Duncan, where the hell are you? Been running all day, I need a break…" The dog stopped beside him and Stan quickly glanced over, trembling nervously as he met the large eyes.

"Did you say Gabe Duncan?"

"Er…yes." His heart leapt up and he turned fully towards the animal, gleeful that the dog might actually know Gabe. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I stayed at his house a while back. Real nice family he's got!" The dog barked once and Stan practically did a celebratory cartwheel. "My owners let me out all the time, so I like to follow people home on occasion, it's real fun." The dog's grin was more like a snarl, but this friendly pup was someone he had no trouble with. "Anyway I just saw him a little bit ago!"

"Really? Where! I have to find him! My human girl's been missing him."

"He was heading to _Mai's Jewelry_ a couple blocks south. You should find him there. I can give you the directions."

Finally! Stan prepped himself for one final run, his mission was almost complete. Although, it would likely begin a new mission for him. "Thanks, that's perfect!"

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be," Gabe stated as he hovered over the owner's jewelry display. The owner crossed her arms and shook her head, vowing not to give in to the Colorado mafia. Gabe had hoped it would be easier than this, but he was spending too much time here and he honestly didn't want to pull out the gun or destroy the place. "Look, we can offer you protection-"

"I'd sooner give my store to the Italian mafia than to give it to your shoddy little gang," The woman barked. "Plus if I need protection, I got a double barrel shotgun in the back, and if you don't get out of my store, I'm going to grab it." He used to have the stomach for these kind of negotiations, he used to be able to trick someone into doing what he wanted them to do. Why was he so out of his game now?

He wasn't losing faith that he'd see Jo, was he? The thought terrified him. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard she was gone for good, it would kill him probably, but he could take it. Just not now, he didn't need anymore surprises now.

"Listen, it's not like you're losing all your money."

"I very well may be! I'm giving you to the count of three to get the hell out of my shop before I go in the back and pull out my shotgun. You wouldn't want _that_ would you?" He lifted his hands and sighed, defeated. What was the point anymore? He was losing his motive for this crap.

Suddenly a bell rang out among the shop, it was the entrance bell at the door. He turned his head over his shoulder and lifted his eyebrows, a small white and black dog casually walked into the shop. He was panting and gazing up at him with what appeared to be a _smile_.

"A dog?" To his shock, he saw a familiar old ball cap of his, but that was impossible. The particular cap he was wearing had been given to Jo. He lifted his head and looked to the owner, she'd already left the area. "Oh no. I need to get out of here…"

"Gabe! Gabe Duncan!" He froze and raised an eyebrow, who had just spoken out? There were no customers in the shop, no one else besides the dog. He chuckled nervously and slowly glanced over his shoulder. It couldn't be, dogs _don't _talk. "Down here! The dog!" The dog jumped and Gabe's eyes widened as his pale skin grew even paler.

"Talking…do-" His eyes rolled to the back of his head as the shock made him fall towards the ground.

"Oh great," Stan muttered, "_Jo_ didn't faint."

* * *

So what did you think? Think the owners should take Jo's advice? Or perhaps, how do you feel about Gabe's reaction? Another thing, has anyone given any thoughts to who the Underboss for the Italian Mafia may be?


	10. That's Need to Know

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

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Chapter 10 (That's Need to Know)

Gabe awakened to find himself behind the shop, muttering about talking dogs and dead people. The dog in question was sitting with his back turned towards him, glancing left and right. He put his hand to his head and groaned, wishing what he'd seen had been a dream. "Sable's…need to go…to Sable's Diner." Remembering the owner's threat, he instantly felt of his chest, trying to look himself over for wounds. When he found he wasn't bleeding _or_ dying, he let out a sigh of relief.

The dog looked over his shoulder and grinned, "I could have planned that better. I'm Stan, I talk, and _please_ don't faint again." Gabe's eyes widened and he moved his hand to his stomach, resisting the urge to crash down once more. Dogs should _not_ talk! What was wrong with this world. He looked down at his lap and saw the ball cap, instantly he started to tear up and reached for the hat, pulling it close. "Ave-_Jo_, told me that belonged to you." Gasping, he looked back to the dog. A new hope swirled in his heart, if this was Jo's dog, he could find her!

Stan turned towards him and started walking over. Gabe was going to have to get used to a talking dog, but now that he knew for sure Jo was involved, he didn't even care. "The owner threw you out back when she came in and found you fainted on the ground. Also, I think Sable's Diner is two buildings down, I can smell their food! If you want to go there, we can! You and I have so much to talk about right now." Gabe raised an eyebrow and lifted a nervous finger, chuckling briskly.

"I'll have to get used to the talking part, but let's rewind…You know Jo? For a fact, you know Jo? Where is she? How's she doing? How did you find me?" Stan glanced off to the side and swallowed. Gabe meshed his brow together and frowned, fearing the worst. "She _is_ okay, isn't she?"

"We'll get to that…but first, dinner. I'm starving."

"Of course. Why does that not surprise me?"

"I'm a dog."

Gabe narrowed his eyes and his voice fell flat. "There you go." He was _still_ wondering if he'd just gone insane. Who talks to a talking dog? Who imagines up a talking dog?

At the diner Gabe managed to find a safe seat in the back corner where, amazingly, they let Stan inside. Currently Stan was beneath the table, licking a bowl of water. There wasn't anyone within earshot, so talking wouldn't be too much of a problem for him. Most of the guards were up front. In front of him was a plate of sirloin steak, broccoli and mashed potatoes. His appetite wasn't too great, however. "So how do you know Jo? I mean, aside from being her dog obviously."

"That's it!" Stan laughed. Stan pushed his head through the gap between the table and seat, resting his chin on the genuine red leather. "She always told me how much she loved you." He started to smile and clasped his hands over the table, staring down at his food. His heart was pounding and he was currently fighting to process everything. "She always wanted to see you and hated when she had to leave, but she did it because she didn't want to put your life in danger."

"Danger? Me?" He scoffed slightly and rubbed his left temple. What was dangerous was the fact that he hadn't managed to turn over the racket, if the mafia got a hold on this they wouldn't be happy with him. Yet, Jo was taking top priority now, so they could kiss his ass as far as he was concerned. "I've already put myself in danger trying to _find_ her."

"So…you never stopped loving her?"

"How could I? She was everything to me, Stan. Like Skyler is to PJ, or Teddy and Spencer, she was my first and only real love. I've tried to move on, tried to date, but you know…it never felt _right_." He tapped his thumbs together and slowly closed his eyes, breathing in softly as he listened to two guards up front talking with one another. "One day I decided I had enough, I was going to find her. Even if it meant…I had to find her through uncertain means." Stan raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"What does that mean?"

"Well I…" Gabe looked towards the door, too nervous to say this out loud in front of the Italian mafia. However, he still had his suspicions that they _knew_ his involvement. "I heard that Jo had been involved with the Colorado Mafia, right?" Stan's eyes began to widen and his jaw dropped onto the seat. Already the dog could tell where this was heading. "In a desperate attempt, I joined them. Hoping maybe someone could point me to J-" He felt something nip his ankle and quickly pulled it away, yelping painfully. The guards looked over, concerned, then turned away once he gave them a wave confirming he was fine. He looked under the table and Stan glared up at him. "What did you do that for?"

"Because that's exactly what Jo _wouldn't_ want! You can't escape the Colorado Mafia, Gabe! Once you're in, you're _in_. The only way would be to-"

"Eradicate the mafia? Yeah, I already know that, but I have no reason to do that until I find her." He could feel Stan's eyes burning into him, filling him with great unease. The tension in the air was far too thick, so much so that he simply could not breathe. "Is there…something wrong?" With the dog's stare, he was now getting the feeling that this was far worse than he could imagine.

"Okay so you're with the Colorado Mafia." Stan exhaled and returned to lapping up his water. After a few seconds, he lifted up his head and raised an eyebrow. "Associate or further? Depending on your answer, Jo says there's a certain amount you'll know. Associates know nothing of the inner workings and going on of the mafia."

"Yeah, I'm still in training. Associate…"

"Okay then." He heard Stan muttering about the whole mafia being buzzed with recent events. "So you probably wouldn't know a thing. What was the last thing you did?" Gabe winced as he remembered the family being carted away to an unknown location. He would never get that image out of his head at this rate.

"Rodney, that's the soldier that recruited me, he made me guard some location. He wouldn't give me details on anything that was going on, I had to help dispose of a body and watch as some family with bags over their heads got carted into a plane." Stan barked loudly and jumped up, slamming into the table. Gabe flinched as the plate of food bounced and the guards looked over once more. "What just happened?"

"You-yeah you wouldn't know." Stan clenched his eyes shut and began circling the black stand under the table. "If you personally knew the family what would you have done? Would you have loaded them on anyway? Would you have stopped them?" If he personally _knew_ the family? Why was Stan so concerned? His eyes began to widen and his pulse sharpened like a knife tearing into his vital organs. Shock descended on him next as he began to fear that family might have been _Jo's!_ His eyes started to well up with tears and his arms folded over his abdomen.

"N-No…can't be…" He shook his head and cleared his throat. "If I knew them personally. I'd probably get killed trying, but I would have likely done something to stop them. Stan, you're not suggesting…"

"Where was this, Gabe?"

"Some Oil Refinery…Sloane." He rubbed his forehead and the dog began groaning. "They said the 'key hostage', a girl, had fallen out of the truck somewhere."

"That was Jo's family!" Stan paced for several seconds as the words haunted Gabe. Nausea swept over him and bile burned into his throat. Once Stan stopped pacing, he lifted his head and moaned. "They said Jo fell out? Then they'll be looking for her."

"I-I didn't know. Oh god…" He clasped his hand over his mouth and buckled over. "Oh god. I can't believe I let Jo's family-"

"Calm down, you didn't know. Just…body transport? Whose body?"

"One of the kidnappers. The woman."

"Okay! Great…anyway, I was in that truck with them. I fell out first."

"Stan, we need to find Jo…"

"No shit, Sherlock." Gabe wasn't quite used to the talking, he wasn't sure he could get used to a dog cursing at the same time. He desperately wanted to find Jo now, to help her family. At the same time, he was _pissed_, pissed that the mafia targeted her family and then used _him_ to help! What was Jo's significance in the mafia? Why were they so concerned? "Listen, what I'm about to tell you…the name of the Colorado Mafia's don is Don Beppe. Jo knows best the inner workings of the mob, she knows all the names and _everything_."

"How?"

"Because…" He looked over to Gabe and exhaled while Gabe could only hold his breath. He was frightened about the next words, and truly concerned with what could be happening next. "Jo is his daughter." The shock hit him like a lightning bolt, freezing him up faster than the ice age. His eyes widened and suddenly whatever appetite he _did_ have before coming to the diner was long gone. "Keener is her mother's maiden name. When the dad left the country, Jo and her mom decided to leave, go on the run. Apparently Don Beppe was looking for them. Found them."

"Oh Jesus…" Now he was _glad_ he never told the mafia the name of the girl he was looking for. Yet, he was sure they knew he dated her, especially if she was the Don's daughter. He couldn't hand her over to that man! The shock and disbelief was turning to a vortex of anger and betrayal, he felt _used_ by the mafia. "Those bastards. They pulled me in when they saw me, probably because I dated her! They knew they could control me…"

"Look, listen, we _cannot_ let them get their hands on her! We have to find her first, and quite frankly…we need to get her family back."

"But Stan, that would be like waging a war on the mafia."

"Then so be it. I want to find her."

"So do I…" Should he enlist the help of the Italian mafia? No, now wasn't the time for that. He slowly rose up, throwing his money on the table. Stan eyed him peculiarly as Gabe turned towards the door, narrowing his eyes. "Rodney _did_ tell me the location where the drivers said Jo fell out of that truck…but from what I remember, she always told me when we dated, never stay in one place for too long. Knowing her, and knowing these details…She won't be staying there for long."

"Wouldn't surprise me then, if she already left. I found you by the scent in that cap, and I know her scent, so let's move!" They left the diner in a rush. In the corner of Gabe's eyes, he thought he saw PJ's car pulling up to the diner, but he ignored it. How would PJ even know he was there, anyway? Gabe hadn't called him. Stan looked up and narrowed his eyes. "I hope you're prepared to turn your back on the Colorado Mafia, I know Jo's going to say that. I just know her."

"Wouldn't surprise me if she did, and if she did…I'd do it." As scary as a thought it was, he was willing to do anything for her. This mafia betrayed him though. They _used_ him. Hell they made him be present while they delivered his girlfriend's family to Don Beppe! He was _beyond_ enraged, he was now more than willing to use that gun in his pocket if he had to.

After running a bit, he took a pause and Stan slowly looked up at him. He realized one thing all too late, a thought birthed by seeing PJ's car back there. He'd been protecting his family by not telling them about his dealings with the mafia. Now that he was getting ready to turn on them, knowing they were so willing to take Jo's family, he couldn't simply return home. "Something wrong Gabe?"

"Yeah…I suddenly see why Jo left me the way she did…"

"What's that?"

"I can't go back home after this." Stan raised an eyebrow as Gabe's body began to tremble. His stomach tightened and a knot formed in his throat. "I-If I go back home, I put my family in danger. I can't put them at risk…"

"Should have thought about that _before_ you joined the mafia."

"I was _trying_ to find out Jo's involvement!"

"Well now you know. For future reference, choose another method of location. May I suggest _Facebook_?!" He narrowed his eyes at the dog's sarcasm and folded his arms across his chest, growling lowly.

"You _honestly_ think she'd have a Facebook if she's on the run from her father?"

"Touché."

* * *

Well Gabe has been hit by a ton of bricks has he not? What are your thoughts? And yep, his family may be in danger. If only they and Gabe knew the Italian Underboss, perhaps they could seek his protection.


	11. Uniting Together

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 11 (Uniting Together)

Gabe and Stan arrived at the gas station where Rodney predicted Jo had fallen from the truck, he was amazed however that they would have gone through territory of the Italian mafia. Even more surprising was Stan informing him that Jo had called in a favor from Deuce, and it was Deuce's cousins that shot up the truck. "Wouldn't look too good if they knew the Cuban mafia was a part of this mess."

"Probably not, no." Stan hopped out of the car they were driving. It was a rental, Stan ordered it in Bennett's name. "I still don't know how the hell you're driving at only fifteen."

"What? I'm getting my learner's permit soon." Gabe shut his door and looked over the hood at the older man washing the windows on the outside. Would the mafia strike this place at all? The building to the right was an eatery that was owned by the Italian family. To the left was a thrift store the Italian mafia owned. So why on earth would the Colorado mafia come here? Yet, desperation was always a likely answer. "Hey, Sir, a word?" The man stopped and glanced over his shoulder, slowly lowering the rag.

"Um we're closed for the day," the man said with a quiet smile. His eyes were darting back and forth like he was hiding something. Was there anything to hide? "We are closing down for a while. Perhaps I can help you with something else?" Gabe slowly nodded his head and made his way towards the man with Stan a few inches behind him.

"Yes, I need to know if you saw a girl here." He had to consider whether or not Jo would even let this man know anything about her or not. If they were closing down for 'a while' it made sense that she might have warned them about the Colorado Mafia coming towards them. "I'm looking for my girlfriend, her family was abducted." The man looked down at Stan and lifted his eyebrows, slowly pointing a bony finger at the dog.

"Is that your dog?"

"It's my girlfriend's." Stan was sniffing around the ground, his tail wagging like crazy. Jo _had_ been here! The man tapped his chin, studying Gabe carefully. "Please, I just need to know if she was here."

"I might know the answer to that. Are you affiliated with that mafia? The Colorado Mafia?"

"No sir, I am not." Not any longer at least, the mafia may not agree, but he sure wasn't going back to them. The man shifted towards the right and looked back over his shoulder. His posture was straight, but held a mild shake, Gabe was now positive of Jo's presence. "Did she leave? Please, I need to know that she's safe." The man closed his eyes and exhaled sharply.

"She _was_ here, told us to leave town for a while and then left. My wife insisted she stay, but the girl refused." Stan barked at him and motioned his head towards the right, Jo could not have gotten very far. Considering how fast the truck was going when she fell out and how cautious she was possibly being, she likely wasn't moving all that swiftly in whatever direction she was going. Itching to follow Stan, he turned and watched the dog scurry off.

"That's a good idea, sir. The mafia _is_ dangerous, and honestly, don't waste any time getting out." The man nodded and Gabe took off after Stan. He could feel it, getting closer and closer to Jo. They had no idea where she was heading, what she was doing, or how to head her off anywhere. "Stan, I've never relied on a dog's smell before."

"Well it's all you got right now!" Jo still had her same number apparently, which was the fake one generated that her father never knew. She apparently informed Stan of this over the past couple of days. It was the same number he had in his phone, but now, the phone was gone. "I think I also smell blood in this direction…" Stan's snout twitched and he immediately turned right. In the back of an alleyway was a man Gabe immediately recognized as another associate in the Colorado mafia, but a higher associate than he was.

The man was sprawled out on the ground, blood pouring from his chest and mouth. He had a pistol in his hand and a construction small pole that had been mounted in the ground possibly during construction, shooting directly through his chest. Gabe's eyebrows rose as concern and fear stabbed him. He studied the ground and saw tiny drops of blood leading away from the body. "S-Stan, I don't think those blood drops belong to the dead guy…" Was Jo hurt? _Was_ this blood _hers_? He began to panic and tap his foot impatiently, "We have _got_ to find her!"

"We will…" If Jo was the one that killed the guy, it wouldn't surprise him. The pole going through the guy's heart was rising up from the ground, indicating he'd fallen onto it. So it was highly likely Jo struck him down with her martial arts, causing him to fall onto the pole and fire out a shot. "Let's go, leave this uh…guy here…"

Gabe's stomach turned over once more as he started following Stan along the trail of the dots. The dog's features were tense and his eyes seemed a bit misty, as though these were for sure Jo's drops of blood. Gabe didn't want to believe she could be injured, he didn't even want to think she was under attack. He'd give the world to ensure her safety.

Eventually they tracked the blood and scent to a tiny building with a bolt iron door and two barred windows. He carefully opened the door and moved inside with the dog, a man in a white lab coat looked up and sneered at Stan through his thin glasses. "No dogs allowed!"

"I'm sorry, I can't put the dog outside." Stan started sniffing the air and barked once, a sign that Jo was indeed here. Or else, she had been. "I'm just looking for someone, sir."

"Well we can't help you." The man pointed at Stan and started to raise his voice. "No _dogs_ allowed, don't you understand?"

"It's okay." Jo's soft voice chimed like music in his ears. He practically leapt at the sound of her voice and turned towards a doorway. Jo had her right hand on the doorframe and was gazing at him with a tiny smile. Her left arm was wrapped in a bandage and her forehead had a bright bruise on it. She still looked beautiful, though, he wanted to take her up in his arms and never let go. "I know those two." The man looked over and threw his hands up in defeat, then walked away. A nurse with curly brown hair left the room and followed the doctor to his office.

"Jo…" Her name fell breathlessly from his lips and he slowly stepped forward. His eyes glazed over and his heart fell onto his sleeves. "I've…missed you so much. I never should have let you go."

"Not much to do about it then." She moved for him and hugged him tight. He wrapped his careful arms around her, not knowing if she had any busted ribs or other wounds. He could feel her wet cheek against his and shut his eyes, keeping from weeping himself. "I love you so much, Gabe. I…I'm so sorry I disappeared on you like that."

"I know, I understand. Stan…explained everything to me." She pulled back and his hands slid onto her elbows. He studied her trembling gaze with a warm smile and lifted his hand, caressing her cheek. "You're still so beautiful, and I still love you." Her cheeks reddened and Stan rolled his eyes at the two of them. He chuckled nervously. "I can't believe I'm in love with the daughter of the mafia, though."

"Exactly why I had to run. I wanted to see you one last time, Gabe." He frowned as she pulled away and turned towards Stan. She bent down and ran her hand along his silky fur. He could feel his heart already starting to break, but he was determined _not_ to let her go this time. "I can't put you at risk. I just…my family, I need to find them. I might not survive."

"I _won't_ let you go this time, Jo." She raised an eyebrow and turned her gaze over her shoulder. That was when Stan whispered that he joined the mafia to find her. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Her hand flew for her forehead, striking her bruise and making her flinch. "I know it was a long shot, but I learned they knew of you somehow! I didn't know _how,_ I just…"

"Okay fine, so you're a part of the mafia." She groaned and slowly shook her head. "There's no point in keeping secrets then. How long have you been a part?" Her hand lowered and she began circling him, as though interrogating him. "What's your rank and what have you _done_? You're already at risk apparently just by being a part, and now that you're affiliated with me, you've just gone and screwed yourself in their eyes." His frown deepened and he slowly pushed his hands into his pockets.

"They already _know_ I'm affiliated with you. I think they recruited me just to keep watch over me."

"Well _that_ was stupid of them! They should stay away from you and your family!" She smacked her forehead again and growled. "No, they're too stupid for that." Gabe raised an eyebrow and Jo once more began to pace. "Okay, so they recruited you. Who? Who recruited you?"

"Rodney Dabney…Officer of the mafia." She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers.

"Always knew that old hag's son was a part of them. Pity Mrs. Dabney doesn't know I'm sure." Gabe and Stan exchanged confused glances and shrugged as Jo continued her ranting pace. "So if he's a soldier he probably knows some stuff. That's good, we'll need to do that. What about you? What do you know?"

"Nothing really, I'm hardly even an associate."

"Yeah, why would they make you anything more than an associate? Not likely." He wasn't sure if he ought to feel insulted by this, but he made no attempt at questioning it. She was clearly more experienced with them than he was. She narrowed her eyes and stopped pacing, glancing at him. "What _else?"_

"I've had to take a few rackets and then…" He took a slow deep breath as the chilling memory of her family haunted his mind. He clenched his eyes shut and closed his fists. "Rodney made me stand guard while this family was loaded into a plane." She froze and slowly looked at him, a mixture of pain and concern flooded her eyes. A whimper left her lips, Stan took a seat and shook his head. "I-I didn't know they were your family until Stan showed up. I-I would have stopped them if I knew, but Rodney wouldn't tell me _anything_ about them! I swear Jo…I never would have let them load up your family…"

"I know you wouldn't…" She lifted her hand to his cheek, her touch and smile warmed him and comforted the anxiety and guilt within him. "You didn't know. They probably would have killed you too if you did anything. Don't take that the wrong way, but no matter how dumb my father's mafia is, they're not _that_ dumb. Now…" She lowered her hand and folded her arms. "How did you find me, again?"

"Lucky guess. Rodney told me the location the drivers said you fell off at. Stan and I showed up there, found an older man who told us you'd been there but left. Stan sniffed you out, we found the body of a higher level associate, then so forth." Jo slowly nodded and looked towards the bandage on her arm.

"Right, I had an altercation with that guy. He recognized me as the one person who fell off that damned truck, tried to shoot me. I fought him off, he fell on that pole and fired one shot at me. It grazed my arm, but still cut enough for it to actually bleed…so I came here, knowing it was one of the clinics belonging to the Italians around here."

"I'm glad you're safe."

"Thank you, and I'm glad you are. Unfortunately, I don't know how safe your family's going to be. Putting two and two together isn't _that_ hard for them. Either way we need to take the mafia out."

"I'm not going back home right now, Jo. I can't, not if there is a target over my head. I don't want to put my family in danger like that."

"Now you see what I had to deal with?" Yes, the panic and the fear was too great of a demon to deal with. Jo put her hands to her hips, then moved her right hand towards her forehead, tracing the crease on her head with her finger and thumb. "What we have to do, Gabe…we'll have to force Rodney to give us information. I know the names of all the Made Men in the mafia, but it's been a while so I don't know where I'd find them."

"Rodney's not going to just hand stuff over…"

"Of course not. We're going to attack him, and if we have to…kill him…" He swallowed hard as Jo narrowed her eyes and gazed through the window. He understood the determination to find her family and wasn't about to contest her, but he was surprised with how quickly she was deciding on killing. "Do not harm innocents, just the people who are involved with my father's mafia. That's _it_, okay?"

"Okay…"

"At the very least, if anything happens, we'll enlist the help of the Italians. They're friendly with me, they'll give us protection I know. If a war breaks out, their Underboss will likely know to take the businesses and take out the Made Men. As far as I'm concerned, we just need to focus our energy on finding out _exactly_ where my father is and ensuring a way there unnoticed."

"Do you _have_ the contact information of the Italian don in case things go south?" Jo glanced at him with a subtle smirk and wagged her eyebrows.

"Would you ever doubt me? Of course I do, I know his daughter."

* * *

Underboss mentioned again? Any clues? We're going to find out who he is in a couple chapters. So what do you think of the reunion?


	12. Sudden Ambush

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

A/N: Pay attention this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 12 (Sudden Ambush)

PJ parked his car in the driveway, sighing as he exited the vehicle and slammed the door shut. He swept his hand over his forehead and moved towards the front door, glancing over his shoulder at Mrs. Dabney's house. The woman was watching from her porch. He smiled slightly and waved at her before entering the house. In his exhaustion, he tossed his cell phone on the couch beside Charlie, who was busy playing with her stuffed toy. "Gabe not home yet?" Charlie asked.

"Nope." He went out looking for Gabe once _again_, but failed to find him. It was becoming more irritating than a simple minor annoyance. "I'm too tired to bother with finding him right now. I'll go look for him later, first I'm taking a nap." Teddy's head poked from the kitchen and a wide grin stretched across her face.

"Hey PJ, mom and I made some cookies while you were out. Want to try some? Please?" With a chuckle, he moved towards the kitchen. Before he got a chance to enter, he met with a chocolate chip cookie colliding between his lips. He groaned as Teddy released the cookie and clasped her hands together at her waist. He held his hand beneath the cookie and chewed it, letting the chocolate melt inside. "How is it?"

"Good," he mumbled. He swallowed it and lowered his hand, sprinkling crumbs onto the floor. "Please don't do that again." She'd do it again, he knew she would. It was the way younger siblings work, doing everything in their power to annoy their closest older sibling. Of course, they were closest, likely due to the closeness in age. It was one of those reasons he was so protective of her when it came to Spencer. He followed her into the kitchen where Amy was washing her hands. Amy looked up at him with a hopeful smile.

"Hey PJ, have you tried the cookies?"

"Yeah mom, I'm trying to decide whether it was willing or an ambush." He glanced at his sister's devious smirk and slowly shook his head. "They're great. He looked out the window, seeing the back gate open. "Where's Dad at?"

"He's out back with Toby, pushing him on the baby swing." Gabe narrowed his eyes on the yard and arched an eyebrow at the rope swing beside the tree trunk. Toby was sitting in the baby seat waving his hands in the air, but Bob wasn't at the swing, likely he stepped away. "Your dad's been really nervous lately, I don't know what it is."

"Some dream he had. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." Everyone has nightmares, and considering it was just a dream, there truly wasn't anything worth getting upset over. PJ looked towards the plate of cookies on the counter and grabbed a second, making sure he didn't press too hard and squish it between his fingers. "I think I'll go check on him. Love you, Mom."

"You too, PJ. It's always a joy to have you over here." He nodded and made his way towards the back door, stepping out on the porch. He put his left hand at his waist and moved the cookie to his mouth, scanning the yard with his eyes. Bob walked around the corner of the house and towards the swing. The man glanced over at PJ and waved, smiling vaguely at him.

"Something the matter, Dad? You're not one to leave Toby by himself."

"Yeah, I just thought I heard something."

"Want me to check?"

"No son, it's all right."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You look tired."

"I am, I think I'm going to go lay down for a while." He wanted to be sure his dad was able to relax. The man's newfound paranoia _ was _a bit unsettling. He might need to have Emmett check it out, the guy was doing some work for the police force, going to college to become a police officer. "Dad, _try_ to relax, all right? You've got Mom worried about you." Bob chuckled and let him know he'd be fine. PJ took another bite of his cookie and moved back inside. "Geez. Maybe I shouldn't sleep. Gabe's still out there, Dad's acting like a nervous wreck, making everyone else nervous…" He was beginning to figure out why Gabe was so shifty lately, and to tell the truth, he wasn't too happy about it.

As he made his way to his former bedroom, his hand gripped the stairwell and he turned his gaze towards the door, still thinking of his younger brother. "I'll have to have a talk with Gabe next I see him."

"So why don't you like Spencer, Mom?" Teddy asked as Amy shut off the sink. Amy shrugged her shoulders and moved to the refrigerator.

"It's not that I dislike him baby, he hurt my daughter. I'm watching over him like a hawk, that's what a mama bear does. I know it doesn't seem fair that everyone in the house is constantly weary the minute he's around, but he's got to build our trust again. It's not going to be easy."

"I know, I just…" She let out a sad sigh and moved the plate of cookies over to the table. It was to be dessert for later. That was, if Gabe ever came home. She didn't mind Gabe's shifty behavior lately, it was PJ that she missed. All her life she was closest to him, depended on him. He was the protective older brother, and now he was always busy with something. She knew it was only because he lived in another apartment and had to study, but she missed him regardless. "I'm glad PJ's at least coming around more often…I miss him sometimes."

"I know baby. He's your brother, you two are closer to each other than anyone. There's good reason for that, you know." Amy pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and brought it towards the counter. She liked to make dinner with wine, PJ showed her how one day. It was great because her mother had been from an Italian family that always cooked, and they _always_ made supper with wine sauce. "I think I'm going to get to work on that lemon pepper veal and capers. You want to help?"

"Sure Momma." Teddy glanced towards the opening between the kitchen and the living room, smiling as she turned her eyes toward the staircase. Nobody understood why it was she trusted PJ so much, or why she cared so much for him. Their closeness was literally due to a life-saving moment when they were children.

When she was seven, she and PJ would always go to this construction site to play hide and seek. Their parents told them not to, but they were children, they never listened to one another. One day she climbed all the way to the top, a place she and PJ had _never_ gone to. In order to hide, she had to cross a small wooden plank to get to another side.

When she made it safely across, she stepped on a rotten board that broke beneath her. She screamed when she fell through the hole, her force was enough to break through a second floor. Beneath that second was nothing, she managed to grab a piece of metal sticking out from the construction site, but her arms were weak and injured. If she fell, she would surely die. All she could do was scream and cry out for her brother as sheer horror crashed through her.

Her tiny legs flailed in an attempt to boost herself up onto the metal limb, and above her were two already created floors that apparently the construction crew had been working from top to bottom with. They would not be happy about the holes, but for the boards to have been so rotten, the site must have been abandoned for some reason.

When she saw PJ, her heart had skipped a beat and her tear drenched face called out for him. Her fingers had been failing and she could feel herself sliding. At the last second, PJ managed to climb out onto the branched iron and grabbed her hand before she fell off. He pulled her over and carefully guided her back to ground.

Ever since then, the two were inseparable. "Teddy? Sweetie? Can you hear me?" Teddy snapped herself back into reality and looked over to her mom, giving her a subtle smile. "Your phone's ringing."

"Oh!" She instantly ran for the living room to get her phone, stopping only when she saw something fly by the back door. Her attention turned to it and she slowly walked over, staring outside. The baby swing was moving, but Toby wasn't in it, and Bob was missing. "Where did Dad and Toby go?" Her eyes slid down towards the porch where she saw a tiny puddle of blood. Horrified, Teddy took a step back and moved her hand over her mouth. "M-Mom! Can you-" Her mother's startled cry broke her and she quickly looked to the kitchen. "Mom? Are you okay?"

Her senses were telling her to run for PJ, but he was sleeping and likely wouldn't want to be bothered. She was hoping it was nothing major, and that the blood on the porch was just an illusion. What were the chances of that? "Teddy." Charlie's voice broke the silence in the air and the toddler pointed at the door. "Look-" Glass shattered around her, slicing her arms and legs. She let out a loud cry and collapsed on the ground as smoke began surrounding her. "W-What's going on? P-PJ!" She coughed out his name, unable to shout over the smoke filling her lungs. "PJ!"

A hand landed over her face and her eyes turned up to Rodney, who had a mask over his mouth. "Hello Teddy." Her vision began to darken and in her mind, she never stopped screaming for her brother. She heard Charlie yell out, possibly captured too. There were several people surrounding them. Who were these people? What did they want with them?

"W-Who…"

"We're with the Colorado Mafia, but don't worry, we're not interested in killing you _yet._ You see, we're going to use your family as negotiation for one of our associates…we think he's defecting, can't allow it." Her eyes widened and a whimper left her lips. Who were they talking about? Why did her family matter? Tears began to sting her eyes as Rodney manhandled her and started to slam her against the wall. Pain shot through her body as she screamed out. Rodney leaned close and whispered into her ear in a sinister tone. "See, we've been watching your little brother for some time now…we've been waiting for this moment."

"Teddy?" She heard PJ coughing from nearby and looked over, barely making him out at the top of the stairs. Suddenly a bat collided into his back and sent him hurtling down the steps. Teddy screamed out as his body went limp on the floor. Then, in a single instant, a burst of pain struck the back of her head, sending her out of consciousness. The Duncan family was now at the mercy of the mafia.

* * *

And with that, the Duncan family is held hostage. What will happen? Will the Underboss swoop in, perhaps? Why would he? Can Gabe save them? Well tell me your thoughts of the chapter. I _can_ tell you, the people that took the Duncan family are in for a _world of hurt._


	13. Trained to Shoot

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

* * *

Chapter 13 (Trained to Shoot)

Jo led Gabe into a back alleyway where a small group of Italian Mafia members were, he was a bit nervous eyeing their black jackets and mysterious shades. He could never tell if they were glaring at him or not, and often he tried to not piss them off. "I've found these three and asked them to set up back here…Gabe, I'm going to teach you to shoot a gun. I know you think the Colorado Mafia taught you, but just telling you to shoot whatever moves is not going to help."

"Okay…" He showed her the small pistol that Rodney had given to him and Jo quickly nodded her head. She pointed farther down the alley. Gabe was a little concerned with all the crates, targets and moving objects going as far as he could see. The mafia members went out of their way to help Jo. Why? "So you want me to run through this?"

"Yes. Show me what you've 'learned'." He nodded and looked down to Stan, who gleefully stood at Jo's side. Gabe started off at a row of four crates at the start of the alley and crouched down, holding the pistol with a slightly trembling hand. His eyes scanned the area for targets, and almost immediately at the far left corner, a cardboard dummy with a red circle on its head popped out. He jumped up, aimed and fired a shot at the mannequin, striking it in the target. "Not bad, Gabe." Jo clapped her hands and motioned for him to keep on.

He vaulted over the crates and immediately hugged the wall to his right, covering himself behind a stack of crates. He leaned forward, gazing past the crates at a swinging target near a window. He reached around with his arm and fired two shots, one missed and the other hit dead on. Next he rolled into view, aiming forward and shooting a target in the distance, then rolled onward to the opposite wall. This was beginning to feel a bit tedious, but he understood why he had to go through all of this.

When he reached the end of the alley, a big guy with a hardened expression was waiting for him, arms crossed and eyes in narrow squints. "It's good you made it to the end, but you still have a lot to learn."

"I know…I just, I don't know what I'm doing."

"You'll get the hang of it." The man pointed to the gun, breathing in slowly. "That thing can be useful when you need it. You may find yourself in a situation where you need a gun, you can't shy away from shooting someone if it is self defense." Gabe proudly turned towards Jo and Stan, he hoped she was impressed at least.

"You still have a long way to go," Jo stated, "But that's fine. I never really pictured you in the mafia anyway…" Of course, she'd never let him live down joining the mafia. She glanced to the man and smiled graciously. "Thank you for helping to set everything up. We're going to get going now…" The man nodded and Jo started walking. Gabe followed close behind. "See Gabe, the Italians aren't so bad, but they're supposed to at least treat you with some ounce of respect. There's no reason to get them started up in a war with my father's mafia, however. Not unless they do something to warrant the Italians attacking them."

"So then, no going to New York?" He would _love_ meeting the New York's Don. He pat his stomach and grinned wholeheartedly. "To meet the real life Don Corleone, that would be _amazing_." Jo glanced at him through the corner of her eyes and slowly shook her head. Feeling a bit jilted by her lack of enthusiasm, he silenced and glanced down at Stan. The dog was looking protectively every which way.

"He's a relative of the real life Corleone, but that man perished ago. At most, I'd like to enlist help from the Underboss, he _should_ be able to help out somehow." Of course, the man had been apparently searching for her too. "Anyway, you should know who we're up against. My father, as you know, the Don, has one Underboss. Vladimir. He's got three Capos, and three soldiers in charge of the associates and outsiders." Jo narrowed her eyes and glanced over her shoulder, her gaze burning into him. Searching his soul. "Rodney apparently is actually one of his soldiers, _not_ an associate."

"You're sure?"

"He'd have to be if he recruited you. Assuming he recruited you and told you he was an associate, he lied." Gabe sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, curling his fingers in his hair. He had his suspicions about Rodney, but never quite thought the guy was all that bad. It was impressive, and beyond him, that Jo knew so much about the mafia. She was still tough as ever, something he could truly appreciate. "Now, I know you said you can't return home right now, since you think it would endanger your family…but I think checking in with them could be a good idea."

He winced and glanced off in the distance, full of uncertainty. "Maybe. If Rodney is really all that bad, then there's no way I want to risk going back there on the off chance that he could be watching." He felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket and quickly pulled it out, gaping at the text message on his screen. Spencer texted that he wasn't getting a hold of Teddy, PJ, or their parents. Jo eyed his phone and huffed. "I can't believe Teddy's still dating him. Didn't he cheat on her?"

"Yes."

"Great." He felt a bit of unease settling in and started to text him back when Jo quickly grabbed his wrist. He started to protest, but froze under her stern glare. "Do not respond. As stupid as he is, and I guarantee he is, that phone will be traced. Do you not understand, my father's consigliere is Mr. Walsh." Gabe froze, raising his eyebrows as his thumb hung over the keypad. How could that be possible? Spencer's dad was the consigliere? "Most likely that mafia has his phone bugged. If you were to call or text, they might be able to figure it's you."

"You've got to be kidding me…how long?"

"Since before _I_ was born, Mr. Walsh has always been the consigliere for my father. My guess is Spencer hasn't let Teddy know about this. I can't imagine why he would, it is probably for her own good that she not know." He frowned at the phone and pushed it back into his pocket, scoffing. Jo gave him a reassuring smile and moved her hand to his shoulder. "If you're concerned and Spencer can't get in touch with them, then I still say we should go check your house."

"Yeah…besides, they'll be happy to see you."

Making their way towards the house, Gabe felt something amiss. The home still looked calm, but a dark aura was radiating from it. He looked over to Jo, she was glaring at the house, her body extremely tense and rigid. As he turned his eyes towards the gate. It was wide open, not to mention the windows in the front of the house were shattered. His heart began to race and he took off towards the house as though he were running on lava. "No! Tell me they're okay!"

"Gabe!" Jo called out for him, telling him to be careful. She ran after him and tackled him to the ground. He let out a shout for his family and attempted to struggle beneath her, tears in his eyes. He didn't want to throw her off of him, there was no desire to fight her, so he simply quit. He looked up into Jo's gaze, asking her why she would have stopped him. "Gabe…if anything happened to your family…" She looked to the house, full of disbelief and doubt. "Which I can't figure out how that would have happened, but anyway, if it was the mafia then there may be some people inside waiting for you. You can't just go running for it.

"Yeah…you're right." As she helped him to his feet, he dusted himself off and glanced to the house. He was in shock still, refusing to believe they were in any harm. "Maybe it isn't what we think. Maybe they're still in there."

"Busted windows?" Jo studied the door from across the street and huffed, "Door is a little bit ajar. Your fence is open…and I smell smoke." Stan whined and Jo tensed once more, clenching her eyes shut. "That's how they got my family. Smoke and some sort of knockout gas." As they began moving closer, Jo slowly balled her fists and narrowed her eyes. "Gabe, in all honesty, this was _not_ how I envisioned our reunion."

"I know…I'm sorry…much as I'd love to ask you on a date, it seems a little inappropriate as far as timing."

"Yeah unfortunately. Anyway, let's be careful here." Jo crouched beside one of the windows and Gabe followed suit, withdrawing his pistol in case there was someone inside. He slowly lifted himself to look into the window, and as Jo suspected, there were about four people standing in the middle of the room talking with one another. Each one he recognized as members of the Colorado mafia. When he lowered himself back, he gave Jo a confirming nod.

"Great. So they took my family." Anger came like a tidal wave, he wanted blood and he would get it, but the question was how? This was war, and he intended to wipe them all out. "We need to find Rodney." Jo looked astonished at the suggestion and quickly turned to him.

"And how do you think that'll go over? Rodney's probably the one that orchestrated this whole thing." If that were the case, then everything Rodney ever told him must have been a lie. Then again, Jo already basically confirmed that. He turned his back to the wall and slid down, muttering curses under his breath. He felt her hand over his and started to relax, looking up into her loving, reassuring gaze. Something he'd missed over the years. "We'll find them Gabe, mark my words. We'll find them, we'll find my family. Everything will be fine."

"I really have missed you…" She smiled and leaned forward, kissing him on the corner of his lips. His heart skipped a beat and all his worries flashed away for an instant. He looked back to her, wanting so much to pull her into his arms. _Time and a place, now is not it_.

"I know. I missed you too. Now…" She looked back up to the window and cleared her throat. "Because of this, we are going to wipe out Daddy's mafia one by one, but we're going to need help. I wanted help from the Underboss, but that's not going to work."

"Why not?"

"We just need to go straight to the Don in New York." His jaw dropped, his heart stopping in mid beat. How on _earth_ could she expect to get to the Italian's Don? Not only was the place well guarded, surely, but regardless they were both affiliated with Chicago's mafia! No way would they let them get _close _to the Don. "We need help, but either or, my father's mafia goes down _now_."

"The Italians aren't at war with us."

"No…but they will be soon." Jo looked in through the window, scowling at the men inside. "My father's group just made one of the biggest mistakes of their mob career."

"I'll say."

"Now where can we find Rodney? Usual hangouts?" He bowed his head, trying to think of where Rodney could be at the moment. The man was always an enigma, shrouded with mystery.

"I'm not sure. He never told me much and we've never hung out anywhere in particular."

"Okay then, we'll find out the hard way." Jo reached into her shirt and pulled out what looked like a garrote wire. He raised an eyebrow as she began to stretch it out. "Something I picked up from our dead associate friend. It's been a while since I've used something like this."

"You've used it?"

"My father had no limitations on age or relationship." Her face hardened for a moment and Gabe felt a pang in his chest. Her father made her deal with all this mess? She was a part of that violence? The more he learned of this man, the more he hated him. "All right now, Stan and I are going to go in through the kitchen, make one of the guards come into the kitchen and take him out. Stan, I'm going to ask you take out another one of the men." The dog nodded and Gabe shuddered. Jo raised an eyebrow at him and smirked playfully. "Something the matter?"

"I'm still not used to the talking dog."

"Of course. You'll get used to it real quick." Stan snickered and Jo quickly cleared her throat, always the 'business first' type of woman. "All right, now when those two guards are incapacitated, Gabe I'm going to need you to put two well placed bullets into the two remaining. Think you can do it?" He froze and steadily became nervous. "This is for your family, Gabe."

"Y-Yeah. Just why are we killing all of them?"

"Not _all_, we're going to leave one alive so he'll tell us where the hell Rodney is. Is this the first time you've had to actually shoot someone?"

"Yes…" He was almost embarrassed to reveal that information. "Rodney trained me to shoot a gun, much like you did back there, but that's about it…"

"I see." She closed her eyes exhaled sharply. "I don't like having to kill someone either, Gabe. It feels disgusting, that's why mom and I left my father." Her eyes opened slowly and her hand lifted up to his cheek as she gazed softly into his anxious and misty eyes. "It will be okay, Gabe. I could say this is part of that training, but I'd be lying. This is…this isn't something I wanted for you. I loved you Gabe, and I still do. I wanted you to be safe, not to be involved in this mess…As long as you never feel _okay_ with it, then you're still human."

"It's only business, right? My brother said that, quoting the godfather movie." Jo withdrew her hand, chuckling at the comment.

"Right. It never gets easier, bear in mind you don't have to kill whoever's in there right now. Just…put them out of commission so we can actually interrogate them and find out where Rodney is. When we do find him, we're going to have to put him out…"

"You mean permanently?"

"Yes…I'm sorry to say, but that's the only way in this life. Your brother might agree if he were involved." Especially if Rodney was the one who took the family, which there was a strong indicator that he was. In this case, Gabe _wanted_ to kill him, but not out of revenge. "There is a difference between a revenge killing and killing because you have to, and when you're trying to get away from the mafia and rescue someone that's captive by them…it becomes a necessary killing."

"I guess so." He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sharp exhale. "I guess it's just easier for others than me." Jo smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose, causing a red blush to appear on his cheeks.

"That's something I love about you, Gabe. Please bear in mind…it's _never_ easy for anyone to have to kill someone, so don't ever think it is. Even the soldier in the army will tell you that." She started to stand, placing her back against the wall and clearing her throat. "Now…remember what the plan was, you don't have to aim to kill, just…shoot something. Preferably their arms, legs, or the guns in their hands if they draw them out."

"All right…" Gabe watched as Jo made her way towards the fence. His eyes drifted over to Mrs. Dabney's house and a sliver of pain and guilt struck his heart, he hadn't been able to show his face around her for a while now, nor would he do so afterwards. Rodney's days were numbered, attacking Gabe's family and orchestrating the abduction of Jo's was his fatal flaw. Not only would he pay dearly for it, but he would give them all the information they needed. When Jo and Stan slipped in through the fence, he let out a heavy sigh and glared down at his gun. "It's now or never."

* * *

So they're going to find the Don in New York after this, and Gabe now realizes what happened to his family.


	14. Now it's Personal

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: So I've combined my love for the mafia with GLC, and you know me, you'll love this. Do enjoy. Inspired by, yes, an actor's involvement in both shows.

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Chapter 14 (Now it's Personal)

Gabe watched closely as one of the men in the living room went to investigate a strange noise in the kitchen, he could feel his heart pounding and his body trembling as he waited patiently for Jo. He had to trust she'd be okay, otherwise he was going to go nuts. Constantly he reminded himself that they couldn't afford to kill Don Beppe's only daughter. At the very least, they could hold her captive, but nothing more.

The three men remaining in the room stared at the kitchen door with growing curiosity, muttering back and forth and gesturing in the direction. One man started to suggest going to check out the scene, to which Gabe pulled the hammer back on his gun. He studied the three men closely, gathering mental imagery of them. One man was buff, his black hair slicked back and framing his lips was a fuzzy goatee. The man beside him wore a fedora to cover his red hair, he was scrawny and had sacs beneath his eyes. His thin lips were gripping tightly to a cigar, which was sending smoke before his deadly green eyes. The third man was average sized with what appeared to be a beer gut, he had light stubble and a receding hairline.

The man with the receding hairline started to walk towards the kitchen, taking a pause to scratch his graying hair. Gabe narrowed his eyes and began taking a mental count in his mind, he was preparing himself to shoot down the two remaining men. After waiting for a few minutes, he started to rise up and aim his pistol at the backs of the two men, his finger trembled on the trigger and his breathing became labored. How was he to do this? He had to be fast, otherwise he was dead.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw nobody around, nor would anyone that was watching care anymore. The mafia ruled the streets so much that people stopped reactingand just tolerated them. Any heat that was generated could be lessoned simply by bribing a police officer to look the other way. An FBI agent could crack down on other mafia families, forcing vendettas to go down. It was great having various officials in the back pocket, and now, it was time to figure a way to utilize all of them. Especially considering the fact that they were mostly in the back pocket of the Italian family.

He closed his eyes, feeling the small trickle of sweat going down his neck. This was absolutely necessary, the only way to get out of the Colorado mafia was to take them out. One by one. He'd dug his own grave when he joined them, and now he was in too deep. He had to climb out, and albeit dangers, this _was _the only way.

He slowly opened his eyes and fired off two quick shots, grimacing as the two men inside collapsed on the ground. One man had blood seeping from his right hip, while the scrawnier man was bleeding from the upper back, close to the spinal region. When he saw them on the ground, he was too shocked and frightened to move. This was no longer a dream, this was_ real_. Jo and Stan hurried from the kitchen and eyed the two bodies for a minute before looking up at him.

"Don't just stand there, Gabe!" Jo barked out. He nodded and quickly pushed his gun back into his pocket, then vaulted over the window. The two men were letting out loud pained groans, but hardly moving. He looked towards the kitchen and saw the other two men lying motionless on the ground. "All right. Now Gabe, you're not going to like this, but you have to use force to get the job done."

"Force?"

"Yes." Jo reached down and grabbed the hair of the scrawny man, pulling his head up. He let out a loud scream, the cigar fell from his quivering lips. "Now tell me where I can find Rodney Dabney, unless you _want_ another bullet put in your spine!" The man whimpered and flailed his arms out. Gabe's eyes widened and his heart crashed against his ribs. He never expected things to go this way, but in truth, he honestly shouldn't be surprised and he knew it.

"All right, all right! I'll talk!" The man groaned as Jo released his hair and let his head fall hard on the ground. Gabe folded his arms over as the man rolled his head towards them. He was breathing heavily and tears were running over his cheekbones. "I-I think he's over at the bar, Henry's Bar on 10th and Dover. He said he was going to grab a drink there before doing anything, honest!"

"And he's the one that took the Duncans?"

"I don't-" Gabe quickly withdrew the gun and fired a shot beside the man's head, causing him to scream out and release a puddle beneath his waist. Stan groaned in disgust and stepped back while both Jo and Gabe ignored it. "Okay! Please don't hurt me anymore! Yes, Rodney orchestrated the whole thing!"

"Why?"

"Negotiation! He thought Gabe was fixing to defect from the mafia so he was going to use them for his own gain, in order to scare Gabe into working with them!" Gabe was struck cold by the words. He met Jo's concerned gaze and quickly glared down, kicking the man sharply in the ribs. "Why!"

"That's for messing with my family, asshole!"

"You're wrong, Gabriel, you've made a bad mistake! Not to mention working with Don Beppe's daughter, you're fucked! Besides, Rodney doesn't have your family, he handed them over to our top Capo." Jo's eyes widened and her body stiffened. Gabe wasn't sure what this meant, but he was beginning to get used to the whole not knowing anything. "Rodney tried to make sure no one else was hurt, some of the kidnappers were a little rough."

"Rough?" Fear and panic struck him and he quickly crouched down, narrowing his eyes and growling menacingly at the man. "What do you mean _'rough'_?" He felt Jo's hand on his shoulder as the man laughed once. He was resisting the urge to put a bullet in this man's head, but it was a powerful urge.

"The thing is, work with the girl and defect, then your family's going to die. Rodney wants a negotiation, the Don wants confirmation you're with us and not against us. Your brother hasn't woken yet and your mother's already been…she fought with one of the kidnappers and hit her head on the counter. She's dead." In an instant, the entire world collapsed. Jo's hand flew to her mouth and silence filled the tension in the air. His mother? _Dead?_ That wasn't right! It wasn't fair!

"S-She-She's not a part of this, damn it!" He rose up angrily, slamming his foot hard into the screaming man's back. "She's not a fucking part of this! She wasn't!" Tears shot down his cheeks as a rage-filled fire burned within his soul. He heard Jo trying to calm him down, but nothing could control this fury. "Leave my family out of this! I'll never work with you guys! Never! I'm going to tear each of you limb from limb!"

"It's…only business…"

"Fuck you! Business just got personal!" With that, he swung his arm in an arc and fired a gunshot into the back of the man's neck. Realizing what he'd just done, the gunshot snapping him back to reality, he dropped the gun and fell to his knees, whimpering as he eyed the blood pumping from the body. "Oh god…no…what did I do? What have I…"

"Gabe, it's okay." Her soft arms wrapped around him and her soft gaze comforted him. He meshed his eyebrows together, trying to figure out why this was all happening. Her eyes were misty and her cheeks wet, somehow this was relaxing for him to see. "They're going to get what's coming to them, Gabe. I promise you, they don't have an idea what they've just done…if they think you're the only one that's going to be angered. Just try to relax, know that I'm here for you and I will always be by your side, all right?"

"How can I be strong? Jo, my mother's been killed and they're going to kill my family if I don't cooperate!"

"I know, but trust me, it's going to be okay." Jo hugged him close. His eyes clenched down, his chest quaked and his sobs fell from his lips. "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to that place, _Henry's Bar_, we're going to find Rodney and he's _going _to take us to New York. We're going to enlist the help and protection of the Italian Mafia…Believe me when I say this, a war is going to break out, but we can use that to our advantage in finding both your family and mine."

"Why can't we just find them and go there?"

"Because, all we are is a dog, a girl and a boy…we don't have the manpower to take on a whole army. Until we have that behind our backs, it would just be suicide going in to fight off that mafia." She was right and he knew it, he hated it, but he also hated the thought of dying before getting their families out of danger. "All right…let's collect ourselves and find Rodney…"

On the way over to the bar, they stopped at an Italian place and had the guards send some of their cleanup crews to the house to dispose of the people there whether alive or dead. When they made it to the bar, just as predicted, Rodney was sitting on a stool, hunched over with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

They hadn't really thought up much of a plan, but with the amount of rage pumping through his veins, Gabe was plenty sure they didn't _need_ a plan. They'd tipped off the front guard and bribed him into keeping wandering eyes off this place for the next hour, which was ample time to finish what they needed to get done. Approaching Rodney, all he had time to do was glance over his shoulder before Gabe grabbed his back and threw him onto the floor with excessive force. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay the fuck on the ground!" Gabe shouted at his former trusted friend. Rodney groaned and many of the people in the bar all took a giant step back from the scene. The bartender remained calm and kept cleaning glasses, as though he were accustomed to this.

"G-Gabe! My friend, what's going on?" Rodney turned onto his back and slowly looked up, narrowing his eyes. "Why are you attacking me? What have I done wrong?"

"Don't play innocent with me!" Gabe reached down and grabbed his shirt pulling him up. Jo bent over him, revealing herself to Rodney, whose eyes immediately went wide. "That's right, I found her, and _you_ just made the biggest mistake of your life! Right now the only think keeping me from putting a bullet between your eyes, aside from your mother being my neighbor and aside from Jo, is because we actually have _use_ for you."

"Still I don't know what you're-"

He shook Rodney, slamming his head on the hard stone floor, "My mother is dead because of you! She was innocent! _Innocent!_ But you know what? You're down about four guards now, and I'm feeling pretty good about taking out the rest of you!"

"You're insane! Your family's with our Capo, Danny Baldetti. You think you can get brave _now_? The instant you turn against us, you lose another member of your family. I don't think you want-" Jo punched him hard in the jaw and Stan bared his fangs.

"Don't think I won't bite," Stan muttered. With that, as planned, Rodney paled considerably and started to scream. "You're going to tell us what we want to know and help us, and we may consider whether you live or die."

"We know something you and the rest of the Colorado do not know," Jo growled. Rodney's fearful eyes shifted towards her and his body began to tremble as she held a small revolver towards his face. They'd taken the gun off one of the men guarding the house. Gabe raised an eyebrow as Jo's lip turned up into a dangerous smirk. "A war's about to break out, and this has been all _your_ doing, not ours. So you're going to help us fly to see the Don of the Italian family in New York. We're going to talk to his daughter and he's going to decide what to do with you."

"What?" Rodney's throaty voice lashed out at them and he quickly glared over at Gabe. "You're getting handouts from the fucking Italian mafia? Are you shitting me, Gabe?! After I warned you explicitly about it?" Jo pistol whipped Rodney, causing a blot of blood to appear on his forehead. He growled out and flashed his teeth at Jo. Gabe honestly didn't know what Jo was talking about, what 'secret weapon' did they have?

"Whatever Jo says we know that you don't, I wouldn't know right now."

"I'll explain it on the plane ride," Jo remarked. She glared down at Rodney and put the pistol to his head. His eyes remained glued to the pistol, sweat was pouring down his trembling body. "And you're going to help us land a flight out by tomorrow morning, got it? The instant you try to call any of your thugs for help, remember two things. One, my father is still your boss, and _two_, my dog will rip you to shreds."

"Okay! Jesus, just get the gun-" Rodney's nervous gaze fell onto the still snarling dog beside him, "-and your dog-away from me. Whatever you need, I'll help. But just for today. Now…what is this thing you know that we don't?"

"That I can't tell you, but just consider the reason the Italian family has been so 'friendly' with me, and with Gabe. You see…not _only_ am I a friend of their Don's daughter, but we-or I do at least-know the identity of their underboss."

"Their _underboss?"_ Gabe could see Rodney's once dark skin turning into a very grayish complexion. He too was a bit frightened, because he still didn't know who that menacing figure was. The most dangerous, lethal and feared member of the Italian family that resided somewhere within Denver, and _Jo_ knew him? "You have the fucking Underboss in your back pocket?!"

"Not necessarily…You see, he doesn't yet know what's been going on, but I have a pretty good feeling he's about to know _everything_. And he's going to be _pissed_. More so than Gabe here."

"You wouldn't tell him anything!"

"Oh no, I don't _have_ to. Congrats Rodney, you've just started a war with the most dangerous member of the mafia family." Gabe raised an eyebrow and muttered under his breath as Stan slowly looked up at her.

"The Underboss…"

* * *

I have to ask, are my readers that were here at the start losing interest in this story? It is picking up, but if you're losing interest, I understand. Now, on to the chapter, what do you think of it? Do you have any thoughts on who that Underboss is? He's about to be revealed the very next chapter, as the chapter is in his perspective


	15. Don Bosca's Underboss

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: I wanna mention, this whole story was inspired by the godfather game for the PS3 XD. I got to create a character and have him run through collecting all the rackets and all, even modeled him after the underboss. With that being said, without further ado I give to you, Don Bosca's Underboss.

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Chapter 15 (Don Bosca's Underboss)

PJ slowly opened his eyes, scowling at the sunlight shining in his face. Above him, he could hear the sound of a jet engine roaring through the air. Pain stabbed the back of his head, his lungs ached from smoke inhalation. "What the hell happened? Where am I?" He slowly sat up, realizing he was tapping a wooden floor. He could swear he heard the sounds of a baby wailing in the distance. It was slowly registering upon him what had taken place a day prior.

_Teddy's scream woke him and he shot out from the bed, a foul odor stung his nostrils and sent him flying from the room to figure out what was going on. He'd known better than to go to sleep, all this time he had a strange feeling in his gut that something was going to happen, and here it was._

_ Had they finally come for Gabe, those people he was hanging with? As he made his way from the bedroom, he could see the entire living room was cloaked in a grayish smog. Much to his astonishment, he was defenseless! The smoke lifted up the stairs, surrounding him and seeping into his nose and mouth, drifting down his throat as he breathed in, calling Teddy's name. He needed to protect her, to protect his family. _

_ A cough rang from him like a knife to the chest, he put his arms around his stomach and cursed mentally. This was the one time he'd been secure, the one time he wasn't on guard! When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw it, the outline of someone swinging a bat towards him. With wide eyes, he let out a loud yelp and was sent crashing down the stairs, his entire body throbbed from pain. He could barely move as he listened to Charlie's cry and Teddy's calling for him, it was the last thing he heard before completely blacking out and losing consciousness. _

"You've got to be shitting me," PJ groaned aloud. His body was still somewhat numb, but that could be ignored as the memory created a flourish of anger and adrenaline. He now had a mission, he needed to find and rescue his family. He felt of his pockets and let out a loud shout. "Damn it! I left my phone on the couch near Charlie! Son of a bitch…" He narrowed his eyes, cursing himself for making such simple mistakes. "No phone, no help, looks like I'm on my own."

Since when was being unarmed impossible for him? A man who could make a weapon out of almost anything. He smirked dangerously and slowly rose up, stumbling at his first step. "Whoever took my family messed with the wrong guy." Was it an attack on him? No, his location had remained hidden from anyone that could come close.

He needed to contact Emmett, or at the very least, Skyler and her father. Surely one of them could help him out, but at the same time, he'd been through worse situations than this. He was making it his goal now to figure out who had him, get his family, and wipe the kidnappers out. PJ surveyed the location, realizing he was locked up in what appeared to be an office building. Behind him was a small maple desk with a gold lamp on the top. Smirking, he grabbed the lamp and gave the cord a good yank.

"My first weapon of the day." He wrapped the ends of the cord around his hands and walked over to the door. Two people were talking outside, one was going towards the site where the hostages were while the other was going to check on him. Why were they keeping him separated from the others? Or was everyone separate altogether?

As the door started to open, he pressed his back against the wall and waited as a man in a purple fedora and suit walked in. The man had a Dillinger Tommy Gun in his hand and a cigarette in his lips. PJ clenched his fists as the man studied the room in front of him. "Hey, where'd the guy they had in here go?" As if beckoned on cue, PJ threw his hands and cord over the man's head and pulled it back onto his neck, then twisted his hands over each other, tightening the cord. The man dropped the gun on the floor and reached for the cord, choking and grunting as PJ tensed his muscles. PJ leaned close, barely loosening the grip.

"All right now, tell me who the fuck you are and what you want with my family." The man gasped out for air, trying to call for help, but barely able to muster a single word. PJ was of course, unrelenting in the pressure he had on the man. He tightened the squeeze for a second, causing the man to grunt in pain.

"P-Please, I don't want to die!"

He narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice to a scornful, apathetic tone. "You should have thought about that before you messed with me or my family...Now I demand answers!" The man's neck began to turn a bluish-purple color, and PJ was debating between snapping the man's neck or strangling the rest of his life out. "I don't like having to kill someone, I truly don't, but it's become necessary now."

"T-The Colorado…Mafia…wanted to…send a message." The man breathed in sharply as PJ released some of the tension. He checked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes, making sure nobody could see inside. Thinking carefully, he struck the door with his foot to slam it shut. "Gabe Duncan…defecting…Jo Keener found, family taken, but she fell out…looking for…her…" PJ's eyes widened and his fists tightened around the cord. His nostrils flared as the man started to struggle once more. The man clenched his teeth and started to whimper. "Our capo, Danny, has everyone…one hostage already dead…another…marked…."

PJ's heart stopped at the words and his tone became laced with aggression and anger. "One is _dead?_ Who?"

"The woman. Matriarch. I swear I had nothing to do with it!" PJ's muscles tightened and his body grew cold. _Amy?_ His mother was _dead?_ They _killed_ his _mother?_ The man's limbs began flailing as he choked on the cord. PJ's eye twitched as he tried to calm the raging fire in his soul, but all too late, as the man's body went limp. The man's head fell to his chest and PJ removed the cord, letting the body slump onto the ground.

"All right then…" PJ reached towards the Dillinger and spoke with a low growl as his eyes burned into the man's unconscious body. "You won't be needing this anymore." With a slow, deep breath, he lifted the gun and turned towards the door. "You just screwed with the wrong person." They better at least not have Gabe, but chances were, Gabe was the lucky one. Also Jo, they were after her, and he didn't even know she was in Denver! No. More important things were at stake now.

Stepping out of the building he saw a vast amount of dirt leading towards a large metal frame that would have been a building. He lifted an eyebrow and groaned, he _hated_ construction sites! However, he recognized this one instantly, the one that he and Teddy used to play on when they were little. This site he knew like the back of his hand. "Of all the places to bring us, they bring us _here?_" Of course he was aware this belonged to the Colorado mafia, but after today, it wouldn't even be a glimmer in their eyes.

"You take my family, I put a dent in yours!" PJ lifted his new gun in the air and called out to the never finished structure, expecting a massive outpouring of mobsters to open fire. He knew the Colorado mafia members were stupid, but never before did he think they were _this _bad. One man nearby called out in alert, to which PJ immediately spun around and opened fire, striking upwards on the man's body.

Without hesitation, PJ made his way to the front wall of the building. Before the Peabody Construction Agency gave up on this building, they had the entire eastern wall and the whole of the bottom four floors completely walled up on the outside. It was the remaining six floors that were only reminiscent of metal beams and wooden flooring. He pressed his back against the wall and slid along to the doorway, peering in with narrow eyes.

Two men were walking back and forth, holding pistols in their left hands. One had a brown overcoat while the other wore a white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves. Scoffing, PJ jumped into the doorway and sprayed several bullets into the men. Their bodies jerked back and forth, blood splashed out on the ground and across the nearest metal beams. Once their bodies landed, PJ grabbed up one of the holsters on their waists and put it around his own, then took both pistols. He emptied one gun of its bullets and put the other gun into the holster.

As he made his way up the metal stairs to the fifth floor, he took pause and listened closely to what sounded like a man begging for his life. PJ slowly made his way through several rows of metal poles that were originally intended to signal where to put walls and door frames. He stopped when he saw a group of five men standing on the edge of the building, and the man on his knees was his own father. PJ's eyes widened as he immediately ran through thoughts of how to save the man without getting killed himself.

"Sorry about this Mr. Duncan, but we got a call from one of our guys at your house," answered a squeaky voice, "Turns out both Gabriel _and_ Jo took them out. Looks like your son just let you die. We have our orders, you were chosen first. Too bad." Bob whimpered and PJ quickly stepped into view, adrenaline surging through him. Blood splashed out before he had a chance to fire, his body froze and his mouth hung agape as his father's body collapsed on the ground. Silence filled the air as his father's body twitched on the ground, blood pooling beneath his neck.

How long had he been staring for? His blood was boiling and his heart was set into a frenzied panic. _"N-No…D-D-Dad! Shit! Dad!"_ Tears stung his cheeks as he let out a violent roar and began to open fire on the group of men. One of the five backed up, startled, and fell over the edge. Two of the men had been struck in the head, one was struck in the knee while the other was hit in the chest. The one that survived was now kneeling on the edge beside Bob, facing PJ. PJ ran over, screaming at the man, "You _bastard! _You killed my father! Do you even know who the fuck I am?!"

"P-Please."

"Now you cry for mercy? You cry to the wrong person!" He slammed the butt of his gun into the man's jaw, sending him flying over the edge. He glared mercilessly, his chest expanding and slowly falling as the man shattered like glass on the ground below.

Remembering his father, he knelt beside Bob and took him in his arms, looking down as his father gazed up. Blood was seeping from the man's mouth and throat, just beneath the vocal chords. "P-PJ," his father gasped.

"Don't speak." PJ pulled his father close, cursing mentally. There was no way he could save his father in time! "Save your energy."

"For…what…My son's in the mafia…PJ…"

"I know, Dad. I know…" He clenched his eyes shut, trembling as his father let out a pained groan. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"N-No PJ, I…protect them. Your sisters, your brothers…" His father let out a final groan and PJ bent forward, weeping bitter tears over his father's limp body. His angry, salty tears moved over his tight lipped grimace. He gasped out and clutched his chest, growling as his heart began exploding within.

"I promise…I will take care of them…" He slowly moved his father's body onto the floor, wiping his eyes and carefully standing. He wiped the blood on his clothes and picked up his gun. "I'm going to send a message to the Colorado mob." He shifted the pistol in his holster out and fired a bullet into the forehead of the one remaining member of the group still breathing. His eyes narrowed and his cheeks burned. "I'm going to pick them off. One by one. Starting with their goddamn Capo. If it's the last thing I do."

Remembering this location, PJ slowly made his way to a distant stairwell. The mafia just made an enemy of the worst person in Denver to agitate. Surely it wasn't their fault, for they didn't know who he was, his identity had been kept secret all this time.

"See Dad, it isn't just one son in the mob. For when I get out of here…as Underboss for the Bosca family…we will overtake Colorado and wipe out Don Beppe's family. I promise that, father."

* * *

So now you know who the underboss is, and his rampage upon the CO Mafia continues in the next chapter. What are you thinking?


	16. Saving the Siblings

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

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Chapter 16 (Saving the Siblings)

Charlie stood protectively beside her baby brother's makeshift crib, she was glaring at the men in the room they were in. Clearly one of the only rooms on the construction site above the fifth floor that was completely finished. There were three men positioned in the room, each in separate corners, all staring at her and Toby. "I bet you want your mama," Sneered one of the men. The mocking hadn't ended yet, but the poor girl was trying her best not to break under the pressure.

She narrowed her eyes and moved closer to Toby, the baby was crying out and flailing his tiny arms. Charlie didn't know what to do, she _had_ to protect him, she was the big sis. She was like PJ was to Teddy, that close to her little sibling. It was deathly true, the closer in age, the closer and stronger the bond. She had no confirmation her family was safe, and in all honesty, it terrified her.

Small popping noises were going off constantly, so the three men in the room appeared on guard, but she had no clue what they were so frantic about. How long the gunfire had been going on, she didn't know. She wasn't even sure if it was gunfire, but she heard PJ once describe the sound to Gabe, so she was curious if this was what it was. The gunfire was growing closer, setting the three men on edge. When it was at its loudest, it was at the closest, and all three men jumped from their corners and faced the door, all positioning their guns. She held her breath and reached in to the crib, taking hold of Toby's hand and looking into his eyes. The baby stopped crying, if only for a minute, and looked up to her.

"It's going to be okay baby bro," she whispered. She didn't know how she knew it would be okay, she couldn't stop the racing of her heart or the fearsome thoughts that told her they may not make it out alive. Somewhere, somehow, she had the faith that told her not to worry, not to be afraid. "Baby Toby be strong, I be strong if you be strong." Toby babbled and squeezed her hand with his soft, but powerful grip. The gunfire ceased and Charlie slowly looked over, the three men were still focusing their attention on the door, all waiting for something to come inside. She felt a lump form in her throat, tears ran over her cheekbones and watered the dried corners of her lips. "Be really quiet Toby…I promise we'll be okay."

"Someone shut the kid up," one of the three men said, "She's making me real nervous."

"Relax, she's just a baby!" Spoke the man to the right. The stronger man in the middle remained silent, glaring daggers at the door. "Why has it become so quiet all of a sudden?" It was an ominous feeling, the silence that laid so thick in the air. Charlie wanted to be afraid of this silence, but she couldn't. With determined eyes, she gazed at the door, questioning whoever or whatever was to come through it. "Are we under attack or not?"

"Just shut up," Spoke the middle man, finally uttering his first words. "These walls are paper thin, so whatever's out there can hear us just fine." Her heart was racing as Toby let out a silent whimper. She carefully moved her hand over his lips, letting him whine happily and bump his lips and gums over her fingers. She normally found this act disgusting and usually hated when he nibbled on her hand and got drool all over, but now if it was a comfort to him, she didn't mind. The baby put his tiny hands on her arm. She lifted her eyes skyward, silently wishing this predator-like silence would lift and go away.

Her anxiety level was rising as each passing second felt like an eternity. Then it came, three slow knocks. She recognized this as a sign, her eldest brother would always give people three slow knocks on the door so they would recognize him. No one else in the family knocked in this manner, usually it was one knock and then they entered. She took a deep breath and started to smile as the bad guys called out, asking who was at the door. The voice that answered, she did not recognize, but she still had faith that her brother was outside somewhere.

"It's Paulie, you guys need to come out. I-I got him." There was a nervous tone in his voice that the three men didn't seem to recognize. They all glanced at each other with wide grins and pushed their guns back into their holsters. When they opened the door, there stood a man with dark stubble on his face and sorrowful eyes. He had his hand over his body just beneath his ribcage, some red liquid was gushing through his fingers. "It was a hellish fight, but I got him…come out…"

"Okay. Let's see what you've got, Paulie." The three men followed left the room and Paulie slowly closed the door, as if to shield what was to come from her innocent eyes. After a few seconds, the familiar popping sounds rang out again, followed by three thuds and the frantic voice of Paulie pleading for life. One final gunshot rang out, and Paulie was silent. She held her breath as Toby released her hand and cooed. She withdrew her arm and gently swept it on the dirty blanket that Toby was laying upon, drying off his sickening drool.

After a few more seconds, the door was kicked open, and much to Charlie's pleasure she saw PJ looking down on her with a smile on his face. "PJ!"

"Hey Charlie." He lifted her up into his arms, hugging her tightly. His free hand reached into the crib and rubbed Toby's hair. "Have you been comforting your little brother?"

"Yes PJ. The scary men are gone?"

"Yes, they are." He sighed and looked down to a long black object beside him, the gun he'd been using. "We're not out of hot water yet, unfortunately. We still have to find Teddy."

"What about Mommy and Daddy?" She saw his facial features tighten and felt an inexplicable sadness gripping her heart. Had something happened to her parents? She didn't understand his expression, and she'd been trying to be strong for so long, but now the fear was almost unbearable. "Big brother?" He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

"We'll talk about it after I've gotten you to safety. Your lives are most important right now." The parents were important too, weren't they? She started to protest, but thought better of it, not wanting to upset her brother. "Now…Teddy and I used to play on this when we were younger. I recognize this floor, it's just one floor below the top…we used to play hide and seek all the time. There's a place I used to hide that is near impossible to find, you'll be safe there. Will you remain there with Toby until I come back with you? Absolutely _do not move_?" She understood his instructions well, and slowly nodded her head.

"Yes PJ. I promise not to move. I will watch over Toby."

"Good. I'm proud of you, all right? Mom and Dad would be too…" He started to tear up and looked away, hearing the sound of a gunshot one floor above them. "All right. I'm going to get moving, I'll be back soon. Good luck?"

"Good luck…"

On the top floor, Teddy screamed as the oversized, greasy looking man with sunken cheeks laughed at her. She was tied to the top of the support beam she nearly fell off of when she was younger. She was on hands and knees, her fingers were gripping the sides of the beam until her knuckles were white. Every few seconds this man would fire a gunshot just a few inches away from her, scaring her into thinking she'd fall off. She would, if not for the rope tied around the beam and her wrists.

Her hair was flying in the wind, and her heart was racing as the only thing she could see was the ground so far below. With the torture she was enduring, she was almost ready to drop. As windy as it was, it was also freezing cold. They'd stripped her down to her undergarments, just to add to their heinous torture. It was against the orders of Rodney, but what did his words matter, considering he wasn't the apparent Capo?

Pop. Another bullet struck just inches away. She screamed out once more as the shell struck her left arm. Tears plastered her swollen, red cheeks. Teddy cried out for her brother, but the Capo mocked her, stating he would not be of any help to her. She slowly lifted her head, revealing a bright shiner over her left eye and a split lip. They struck her when she spoke out against them for taking her father away, threatening to kill him. This was right after separating her from Charlie and Toby. "Please stop," she begged with a scratchy tone. Her voice was weak from the constant crying and screaming, but what else could she do?

"Oh shut up," Scolded the capo. "Ain't nothing you can do that's going to make me stop. I'm just having a little fun at your expense, and nothing more." A sob left her lips as the Capo fired another shot at the beam. The metal clang rang in her ears and the shell struck her chest and fell into her bra. It burned on her skin, irritating it. She whimpered and tried to move her hand up to pull it out, but forgot she couldn't do such. The beam shook a bit and she let out a loud scream.

This is what she gets for _Gabe_ being involved with the mafia? How was it fair? From what she heard, the Italians were far better, why did he get caught up with the Colorado ones? She didn't care, she hated them all! Every last one of the Colorado mobsters, she prayed for their deaths, and she was never one to do so.

The beam was slightly bent, giving her the impression of sinking and falling, which only made matters worse for her. "I-I'm scared of heights. Please…can't you just let me up?" The Capo laughed again and started to fire another shot, but the gun only clicked. He groaned and looked at his revolver.

"Shit. I'm out of bullets…there goes my fun for the day." He tossed the gun off the building and slowly rose from the wooden chair he was sitting in. Teddy whimpered as he began to walk towards her, glaring down at her with a sickening smirk. His devilish eyes held a particular gleam that frightened her more so than her fear of heights. "Maybe I'll untie you, we can have a little more fun." She gasped out and shook her head, clenching her eyes shut and screaming out.

"No! Don't come near! I'm fine being tied here, I swear."

No response came, when she opened her eyes she saw the Capo had been punched to the ground. PJ was standing above him with narrow eyes, pounding his fist into his palm as the Capo glared up at him, on hands and knees. "Aw, you're not having anymore fun?" Teddy had never been happier to see her big brother than she was in this moment! He cracked his head from side to side and growled vehemently. "Then let _me_ have some fun, and I guarantee…I'll make it worth your while."

With a swift motion, PJ grabbed the man's neck and slammed his knee into his face. The Capo moaned and fell backwards, blood shooting from his mouth and nose. "Don't you ever think you can fuck with _my_ sister! My family!" Teddy's eyes widened as PJ delivered a kick into the man's side. The man rolled over and glared up at PJ, his rolls of fat made him look like a giant pile of muck on the ground.

"How the hell did you get up here?!" Thunder clapped in the skies and Teddy quickly looked up, astonished by the darkening clouds. It was sometime in the morning, was it not? A thunderstorm surely couldn't be happening _now_. "Past all my guards?" PJ lifted the Dillinger off the ground and slammed the butt of the gun into the man's head, causing him to fall sideways and roll towards the edge of the building. He stopped and trembled with fear, raising up to his knees and staring down with wide eyes. Teddy watched with a rush of adrenaline and panic, praying that PJ would win this fight, which it looked as though he was.

"You made a fatal error, Mr. Baldetti." The man slowly looked over his shoulder and started to twist around, huffing frantically. "Stand up." The man slowly shook his head, whimpering as he fell onto his palms, practically begging PJ for his life. "I said stand up! I am in _no goddamn mood for games!"_ Thunder clapped once more and the Capo instantly pushed himself to his feet. "Now turn around."

"B-But I-"

"I said turn around!" Upon PJ's frightening order, the capo did as asked. "Now stare! Look down at the ground below you, can you see it?"

"I see the ground…" PJ slowly moved over to the Capo, leaning dangerously close.

"My name is PJ Duncan. I am Underboss for the Bosca Mafia Family." Teddy gasped out as the Capo's body froze. The man began to stutter as PJ slowly pointed towards a tiny building on the ground. "Do you see that building down there? The place you bastards had me locked up? Look real hard on the body laying out front…"

"O-Okay?"

"Tell me, do you see it? Can you see how many fingers the man's holding up on his stomach? If you can tell me how many fingers he's got out, I'll let live." The Capo whimpered and shook his head, uncertain. He squinted his eyes and leaned forward. Teddy peered down at the body below, unable to make _anything_ out. How on earth could PJ expect someone to see how many fingers were sticking out? Then it dawned on her, they weren't supposed to.

"O-One? Two? No! Three! Three fingers!" Teddy's head jerked up and PJ slowly turned around. He stated the man was incorrect, and soon the next clap of thunder that came cloaked the long scream of Capo Danny Baldetti. Teddy looked down and whimpered as she saw the man's body crash into the ground below, creating a crater around his body and a veil of dirt and smoke.

It was not long before PJ had Teddy on the floor, she managed to get dressed as the Capo had her shirt and pants right nearby. As she was pulling her shirt down, she was growing steadily worried about how her family was. Clearly PJ was fine, he told her Toby and Charlie were safe, but she just knew in her heart that her parents were both gone. How on earth could they deal with this?

"U-Underboss, PJ?" She looked at him, wishing to know more. They were making their way swiftly down the steps. PJ slowly nodded his head and she asked for more information, not wishing to be left out any longer. Both her brothers were in the mafia, and he'd _just_ informed her that _Spencer's father_ was the Consigliere for the Colorado Mafia. At this point, it wasn't the most pressing matter to her, but she was very weary of all this trouble and wanted safety to be ensured. "H-How? When?"

"The way Don Vitale Bosca's family is structured. There are the 'outsiders' who start fresh with the family, the associates who are the first official rank. There are six soldiers each in charge of the associates, three major capos in charge of them, and officially two Underbosses. Myself, I oversee Colorado's businesses. The other, Damian oversees New York. He had to train me, and I needed a lot of training."

"W-Why?" Why would they put him on rank of Underboss? He glanced over at her and slowly breathed in, helping her down the final few steps.

"Because I am next in line to be Don. I am promised to the Don's daughter, Skyler." She was about ready to faint at the news, but held strong. She couldn't believe her brother was so close to being such a powerful figure in the mafia, of one of the strongest mafias around. Now, she had heard of them in her studies.

"I never thought…you'd be…a part of all that. Gabe either, did you know?"

"I had my suspicions that he was involved with the Colorado family, but it wasn't confirmed until he said he was looking for Jo. We obviously know Don Beppe is her father, so that tipped me off…Unfortunately it was too late for me to do anything about it." Just before they reached where he said Charlie and Toby were hiding, PJ stopped and turned to her, an expression of sadness stretched across his face. "Teddy, I'm going to have to take care of you. You, Gabe, Charlie and Toby…"

She choked out a sob and moved her hand over her mouth, nothing more needed to be said to confirm what happened to her mother and father. The only question was, how could they remain protected? A mafia war was _going_ to happen now, now that the Colorado mafia attacked the family of the Underboss. "What are we going to do, PJ?"

"First off…I'm going to get you guys to safety. Emmett's, I do not wish to subject Ivy to this and Emmett is also somewhat involved with the family. He's got an associate rank right now." Teddy's eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Right now, I don't know how trustworthy Spencer's father is, so as much as Spencer seems trusted…clueless as he is…I am not going to take you to him. Once I speak with Vitale and Skyler, we'll arrange what comes next." She saw Charlie poke her head from behind a beam and smiled at the young girl. PJ took a deep breath as Charlie stepped into view, holding onto her sleeping baby brother. "Right now my first priority…is you guys…"

"Okay." Teddy instantly ran over to Charlie and Toby, wrapping her arms around them. When she looked up to PJ's protective gaze, she caught him looking off towards the side, somewhat mournful. A big weight was placed on him now, a weight greater than being Underboss. He was now the official head of the Duncan family, and all of them, were depending on him to lead them to safety. "Lead the way, PJ…I-we, trust you."

* * *

Siblings are safe in what was to be an intense fight. What do you guys think? _Almost _feel bad for the Capo, but not really. He likely shat himself when he heard PJ utter his rank.


	17. The Don's Favor

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

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Chapter 17 (The Don's Favor)

When the Colorado Mafia's private jet landed on the ground, several members of the Bosca family surrounded Gabe, Jo, Rodney and Stan like bodyguards. Rodney was in cuffs and he looked completely jet-lagged. He was not accustomed to being thrown about either, which there was plenty of pushing happening. Gabe was smiling satisfactorily as they stepped foot on fresh New York soil, this was where they were safe for sure. He felt Jo squeeze his hand and looked over with a subtle smile. Rodney rolled his eyes at them and glanced away, scoffing as their affection mocked his defeat. "You realize your family's going to die?" Rodney growled.

"No, they won't," answered a deep voice. The group looked ahead to see a familiar sight. Skyler was standing with her father, whose hair was slicked back and his lips meshed into a cool smile. Beside the two on Vitale's side was a man in his later twenties, and on Skyler's side was an older man in his mid forties. Don Vitale Bosca stepped forward and turned towards the men and Skyler, motioning his hand to them. "Meet my second Underboss, Damian Ezio, and our Consigliere Luca Gustavo. Most importantly, my daughter, Skyler." Skyler waved at them and Gabe exhaled slowly, still recovering from his earlier shock. Vitale turned back to the group and smirked. "I believe you are well aware of my other Underboss? He needs no introduction, and is stationed in Colorado."

"Yes sir," Jo answered. She informed Gabe of PJ's involvement while on the plane, he'd been shocked into silence and was trying to wrap his mind around the fact. Rodney didn't want to believe it, mostly considering if it had been true, then his men had likely been sent into a suicide mission. "In fact, he is part of the reason we've come up here…" Vitale closed his eyed and inhaled as Skyler turned a worried gaze over to them. "I imagine he's able to handle himself just fine, but we do have a favor to ask…"

"Yes, I see. Come, let's all go to the compound." Did they not live in an apartment? PJ said they were at an apartment, even Bob said that! Perhaps the apartment was just some safehouse for them, Gabe wouldn't put it past them to actually have more than one place of residence. "We will discuss our next order of business there, and what the Colorado Mafia wishes for me to do."

At the compound, everyone was seated around a long rectangular table, with Vitale at the head. Jo was at the other end, staring straight across. Gabe sat to her right, Skyler was to the her father's right. Damian was to Vitale's left. Rodney was to the left of Jo, still cuffed and under guard. In between them on each side of the table were the Capos and Soldiers of the Bosca Family. Various associates wandered the compound and stood guard in the meeting room.

"We opted to bring Rodney, a Soldier in the family, for your judgment, Godfather." Vitale tapped his chin and slowly looked towards Rodney. Rodney was shifting nervously in his seat, unable to contain the fear of being in this man's presence. Jo glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, breathed in, and turned her eyes back to Vitale. "Allow me to tell you what has been happening in Denver, Godfather. As I'm sure you well know, my mother and I were on the run from my father."

"Yes, I was made aware of that." He bounced his hands in the air, smiling slightly. "After all, I was the one who sanctioned this protection." This, Gabe understood. He understood that it was also through his connection to PJ that the Italian Mafia had always been soft on him. The same was said of Jo, which was not at all surprising considering how necessary it was that she be protected. "Tell me. How did Gabe become affiliated with the Colorado family mafia?" Gabe started to answer, but thought better of it. He was fine with Jo speaking, mostly since she was the most prepared for the discussion while he was simply too nervous.

"Rodney here recruited him into it. Gabe wanted to find me, apparently. The Colorado mafia recruited him to keep watch over him." Rodney scoffed again and Vitale flicked his gaze to the fallen soldier. "Godfather, Rodney orchestrated the abductions of both my family, and the Duncan family. The only reason I'm alive is because I accidentally fell out of the delivery truck with my dog. My dog found Gabe, Gabe found me. In order to control him, Rodney took his family. Mrs. Duncan was killed during the abduction…" Skyler gasped and Vitale closed his eyes, absorbing the news silently. Skyler gazed apologetically at Gabe. He bowed his head and closed his hands over his legs. Jo moved her hand under the table and brought it to rest over his. "We are not here to negotiate peace, at this time, Godfather." Rodney's eyes widened into a panic as Jo's eyes moved into sharp slants. "We're here to negotiate a war, to eradicate my father's mafia completely and save my family. We are here to negotiate the protection of your family. To, if not, join the family as an outsider status." Jo bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Do this for me, Godfather, and you have my loyalty."

"I see…" Skyler's phone went off and she quickly took the call. Before she could leave, she announced it was PJ, and Vitale put his hand up. "Dear, please put him on speaker. I would like to hear what he has to say."

"Okay daddy." Skyler put PJ on speaker and set the phone on the table. Rodney gazed at the phone, stunned. He was sweating now. Gabe was extremely happy to hear PJ was alive and okay. "PJ, you're on speakerphone. Daddy's here, everyone's here. Gabe and Jo are here as well with the Colorado soldier, Rodney."

"Gabe's there?" PJ's voice was like music to Gabe's ears. He could hear Teddy in the background with Charlie and Toby. "Jo too? Good. They're safe…I have some bad news though, it is not something I wish you all would hear over the phone, but…there's no other choice. While I have taken out their top Capo, our father is…" Gabe held his breath and Jo slowly moved her hand over her mouth. Skyler's eyes began to glaze over while Vitale remained with a stoic expression. His head was bowed towards the phone, but his eyes were glaring from the corners towards Rodney. "Our father was killed by them. Mr. Bosca, I'm declaring this an act of war. I am dead set on eradicating the Colorado Mafia, but I will only go through with your approval."

Now the fate of the Colorado mafia hung in the balance, it could be felt with the silence in the room. Vitale leaned back slowly and swept his fingers across his forehead. All eyes were on him, no one dared to suggest another thing in his presence. "I am normally a very peaceful person. I negotiate peace and do not deal in unnecessary wars." Vitale slowly rose from the table and moved a hand to his chin. Gabe's heart was roaring, his chest ached, and his hands trembled. "I am aware that the tension between the Beppe Family and ours has always been thick. A descendent of the Corleone family, their proud blood is thick in my veins." Vitale turned his back towards the table and held his wrists behind his back. "I am aware that wars have been unavoidable at times." He looked up to a portrait of the famous Michael Corleone resting on the wall.

"It is because of this man we have control over all of New York. Las Vegas, several states. It is because of Damian's training that PJ has successfully attained half of Colorado." It was good that their Underboss was the one who trained PJ so rigorously, that gave him ample preparation for times like these. "Five rival families, all at war with us. Michael Corleone took them all out one by one. He took their rackets, their businesses, took out their made men, bombed their compounds, and finally…the Dons themselves. PJ's wish as well as Miss Keener is that we go to war, that we wipe out the Colorado family."

Gabe was truly wishing this man would get to the point, even Rodney was tugging at his collar. He could see war in the man's eyes once he turned back around. Even Skyler looked as though she knew the inevitable answer. "I accept that Don Beppe wished to see his daughter and wife, but to go so far as to involve _innocents_ is something that I cannot forgive." Rodney's jaw fell as Vitale slowly looked up towards the sky, shaking his head. "Her stepfather and siblings. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have lost their lives as a result, leaving PJ to take care and custody of his siblings. Kidnapping my Underboss would be a declaration of war."

"We didn't know!" Rodney shouted in his defense. Vitale slowly looked towards him and Damian let out a dangerous sneer.

"You do not have permission to speak!" Vitale lifted his hand and Damian slowly leaned back, silencing himself and nodding. "My apologies, godfather."

"Yes…" Vitale looked into Rodney's eyes, clearing his throat. "To not know your enemy is ignorance. I cannot lesson the penalty. Don Beppe must be stopped, or I fear, he shall never quit." There it was, the Don had just sanctioned the right to go to war with the Colorado mafia! Gabe nearly jumped for joy, but stopped himself to give Jo a satisfied grin. She winked back at him and returned her focus to Vitale. Rodney turned white as a ghost and started shaking his head. "My permission is granted, PJ. You may proceed to eradicate the Colorado Mafia. Take their businesses, their rackets…take out their compound, free the hostages, and take out Don Beppe. This is your mission. You will accept?"

PJ's voice came from the speaker, he was both pleased and stern in his response. "Accepted, Godfather. I have another request, Mr. Bosca." Vitale repositioned his hands behind his back and stood straight, his shoulders broad and his jaw firm. "As we speak, I have my siblings with my Associate, Emmett." Gabe's jaw fell and his eyes widened, _Emmett_ was a part of the mafia too? "I want them to be protected, to be safe. I wish…to send them to New York until this mess is over. It is for their protection, I want no danger, no harm to befall them. They are innocent in all this, they are not a part of this."

"I see. Skyler and I would be more than happy to have your siblings here in our guest rooms." It would be best, Skyler and Teddy had always been good friends. With the trauma that his siblings had gone though, Gabe was sure Skyler could provide some comfort.

"I will also need a crew. I will be giving orders out to the associates, outsiders and soldiers that are here, but I will still need a crew to personally stand with me. I have Emmett, but I would like to request Damian to join my crew?" Gabe looked towards the muscular brown-haired man and smiled as he slowly nodded his head. Vitale confirmed the request, and PJ continued on, "I would also like my brother Gabe to be stripped of his position with the Colorado Mafia."

"I've left them," Gabe said abruptly. Rodney muttered under his breath and PJ confirmed with an okay. "What else would you have me do, Brother?"

"Because you dealt with them, I'm going to have you by my side during this war." Gabe's eyes widened and Jo winced. Was this punishment? He wouldn't be surprised if it was. "As an outsider for the Bosca Family. You may earn your first official rank as Associate when you prove your loyalty to the family. I will teach you what has been taught to me, but I will also bestow upon you your first task, should it all be sanctioned by Don Vitale." Gabe slowly nodded his head, stuttering over his response. Vitale only smiled at the request, clearly he thought it to be a good one. "My other request goes out to Jo." Jo lifted her head and PJ cleared his throat. "If you trust that I will retrieve your family safely."

"I do," she responded.

"Good, because we will return them to you. My request is that you remain in New York with Skyler, with my siblings." Jo's lips parted and she looked towards Gabe. Gabe was just as shocked as she was. Of course, they knew better than to turn down something said by the Underboss, even if he was their older brother. "You will be safe there, the Colorado Mafia will be unable to take you. I am aware you have good knowledge regarding the mafia, we can still use that without you being in the field of battle. Do you understand?"'

"I-I do…yes…and I…" She breathed in, as though attempting to swallow her pride. Stan looked up to her and put his paws on her leg. Surely the dog thought it would be wise. She looked down to Stan smiling as he whispered about animals being spectacular healers to the traumatized. "Yes. I'll be here for Teddy, Charlie and Toby. Should Don Vitale accept…"

"I accept," Vitale replied, "To all terms." He bowed his head and PJ thanked him. "Now there is one last task to be discussed." All eyes turned onto Rodney. He whimpered. Gabe folded his arms over his chest and smirked.

"No please!" Rodney begged, "I swear! I can change!" He laughed nervously and quickly nodded his head. "Yes, please, I can be loyal to the Bosca family!" Vitale hummed briskly and narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps. I have a job for you, that if you can do…may grant you our protection." Rodney gasped happily and Gabe raised an eyebrow, not wishing to protest. "We're suspecting one of our merchants of earning a little extra on the side. We need someone to bust his little drug trading and remind him of who his money ought to be going to."

"I'll do it! I promise not to fail you, Godfather!" Vitale walked over to him and pat his shoulders. His cold eyes looked up to the portrait of Michael Corleone, and his voice softened.

"I know you won't." Vitale looked to one of the Capos at the table and slowly nodded to him. "Marco. Please, take Rodney outside and prep him for this job." The man agreed and led Rodney away. Gabe was astonished still, but in the back of his mind, he had a feeling there was more to this 'task' than what met the eye. He heard PJ say he wanted Gabe to carry this task out as his first 'job' with the family.

Rodney drove out to where the 'drug bust' was to be, in back roads. Underboss Damian was in the passenger seat and Gabe was seated behind Rodney, haven been instructed by Damian at some point of time. He didn't know how to carry this task out, he was frightened of what would happen if something went wrong, but he was assured that this had to be. Even PJ said it wasn't an easy task, as killing never would be, but if he didn't do this then Rodney may still continue his corrupted evil ways elsewhere.

"We're here," Rodney said as he shifted the gear into park. Damian slowly nodded his head and Gabe glanced down at the pistol in his lap. "So what will we need to carry out this job?"

"We have all we need," Damian stated. Gabe slowly lifted the gun, aiming the muzzle at the back of Rodney's head. He knew, when he pulled at that trigger, he would never speak with Mrs. Dabney again. Rodney may have had it coming, but the poor older woman would never understand or know. "Tell your mother goodbye, Rodney."

"What?" Rodney's eyes turned to the rearview mirror and his eyes widened. His face sank and his eyes closed. "I see…there never was a drug bust." Gabe pulled back the hammer of his gun. "Goodbye mom…sorry I never came around. I did love you. No matter how cold you were, take care…" With tears in his eyes, Gabe pulled back on the trigger. A loud pop rang out and Rodney's head fell onto the car horn. Damian glanced back at Gabe with an approving nod. Gabe's hand shook and he pulled it back, sighing deeply.

"Good job Gabe. Your brother will be sending Emmett up with your siblings. You will return to Denver with Emmett and myself. We'll prepare you for the travel, but first, we need to dispose of Rodney somewhere. We have Chief Dooley in our pocket, he will inform Mrs. Dabney that her son drowned in a boating accident and his body was not uncovered." Gabe slowly nodded his head, breathing out slowly. Let's get moving…"

* * *

The infamous Don Vitale Bosca. What do you think?


	18. Nothing Will be the Same

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 18 (Nothing will be the Same Again)

Teddy sat on Emmett's brown couch, cradling Toby softly in her arms while Charlie curled up beside her. She and PJ were having a difficult time knowing how to explain to Charlie that mommy and daddy weren't coming back. Ivy was with her, sitting on the other side and rubbing her back. As much as PJ had wanted to avoid involving Ivy, he couldn't stop her from knowing they were going to New York. Emmett surprised him by saying that he and Ivy had been dating, in secret of course, mostly because he didn't want the mafia's enemies to go after Ivy. It was acceptable.

PJ and Emmett were standing behind the couch, chatting on about what was about to have to happen, this plan for war. She was frightened, but glad to know she and the children would be protected in New York. She looked up to PJ and frowned. "We're going to miss Momma's and Dad's funeral, aren't we?" PJ glanced over at her and frowned, slowly nodding his head. Fresh tears started to well up in her eyes and Ivy wrapped her arm around her, in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's for your best protection that we send you over to New York as soon as possible. Their Capo is dead, many of their guards are dead, there is a chance they'll know to strike the funeral. I don't want you, Charlie, or Toby to be put at risk. I won't allow myself to allow you to be in the line of danger." She understood that, but it still broke her heart. She never thought she would have to lose both of her parents so young, and then have to _miss_ their funeral. PJ gave her a tiny smile and put her hand to her shoulder, speaking softly. "I know it won't be the same, but after all of this is said and done…I'll take you to the cemetery, we can spend the day there honoring their memory. You know, celebrate their life, remember the good times and know they live on in our hearts."

"I guess that would be good." Like a hurricane crashing into her, she could feel her soul cracking as she clung to whatever she could to keep above water. Somehow she had to be strong, but how was that possible when a small three year old child was less traumatized than she was? She was glad about this, but at the same time, she couldn't stand it. That disgusting man and his greasy, smoky appearance never left her mind. The sound of gunshots rang aloud in her ears even when no guns were near. Now she had to leave her brother when she needed him most.

"Is there something else on your mind, Teddy?" He sat on the edge of the couch with Charlie asleep between the two of them. His hand rested on Teddy's forearm, a comforting touch for her. She breathed in sharply and glanced over her shoulder at Emmett. He was standing strong, holding his wrists at his waist and glancing protectively over the group. She looked back to PJ and slowly shook her head.

"I just…I can't believe I have to be separated from you when we need you right now. I know it's weird that I depend on you the way I do, it's just that…" She wiped her tears away, her cheeks were swollen and her eyes scratchy and irritated from constant rubbing. Her hair was a frizzled mess and her skin was dry from lack of hygiene. PJ's expression softened and his warm, tender and protective brotherly eyes soothed her soiled, broken spirit. "Your younger siblings all need you, but you see how strong Charlie's being. I-I don't know why-"

"She's young, doesn't understand completely what is going on. I know you need me, all of you do, and right now this is me protecting you three. It won't be long, and when all is said and done, I'll always be here looking over you. I promised Dad, if anything ever happened to him, I would look after the family. Now that its known my status, and the danger Jo and her family is in as well as our own, we have to take out the Beppe mafia family."

"I _know_. I'm just scared, PJ…"

"I know you are. Honestly, I'm scared too. It'll be okay." Teddy moved her temple to his shoulder and choked on a sob. "Be strong Teddy, I know you can. You're doing a good thing too, watching over Toby and Charlie. They'll be your best support too." True, she was able to focus on them and not the depressing trauma she suffered at that site. "Skyler and Jo will be there as well, they'll know how to comfort you. Believe me, they have a similar situation you do."

"And what's _that_?" PJ smirked slightly and pat her back as she cradled Toby closer to her chest.

"They both have a relative involved in the mafia. Albeit it's their fathers, and Jo's father's a bad guy, you've got an older brother. They're daughters of the mafia, you're a sister of the mafia." She chuckled and shook her head, unable to figure whether she thought the crack was truly funny, or just something sarcastic. "Now, I've arranged Spencer to come here and see you, I think I told you he was coming this way?"

"Yeah…" She wanted to see Spencer before she left, but was a little scared to now that she knew he also had ties. Though, she wouldn't judge him yet because she didn't know his feelings on it. However, she knew from what PJ said that all the made men had to be killed, so did that mean Mr. Walsh had to be wiped out as well? "PJ, you're not going to kill Spencer's father, are you?" PJ raised an eyebrow and she looked down to the snoozing baby in her arms. "He's Consigliere, so he has to be taken out…"

"He's also Denver's district attorney, he's valuable if we can manage to get him in our back pocket. He can't be _our_ consigliere because of his ties to the Colorado mafia, _and_ we already have one. We will have to negotiate with him, I won't go easy on him simply because he is Spencer's father."

"I know…you have a reputation to keep as the 'fearsome underboss'."

"It's not that." He clicked his tongue and looked towards the window, shrugging his shoulders. "I only got that title because of how fast I had to earn that title. Underboss, Damian, trained me himself. I just had to prove the ropes, so I took half of every business, racket and warehouse in Colorado. Even helped orchestrate the eradication of a rival family down here. It was not all done without help from Damian. The thing is, I got that rank because Vitale found me the best fit to take his daughter's hand in marriage. He needed a male heir, someone he could trust, someone he knew would take care of Skyler and take the family business when a new don had to step up."

"And that person was you…"

"Yes. I've done my best to prove the things I have, and I will prove that I can do the best to take care of my siblings." The doorbell rang and all eyes turned to the door, PJ glanced at Emmett and pointed. Emmett moved over and opened it partway, then fully to reveal Spencer. Teddy's heart jumped up and Spencer hurried in, stopping only when PJ held up his hand. "Search him. I know it may not be necessary, but I can't take any chances." Disheartened, Teddy sighed and watched Emmett pat Spencer down.

"He's clean." Spencer exhaled and lowered his arms.

"You're concerned about my father, I guess. Are you guys all right?" PJ took Toby in his arms and Teddy quickly hopped up from the couch and ran over to Spencer, throwing her arms around him. "Teddy, PJ said you were going away for a while, he wouldn't say where…You know you can trust me." She did, but she was aware PJ clearly didn't, and that was something important to her. PJ cleared his throat and the couple turned their gaze over to him.

"With who your father is, we don't want to risk the chance of you telling him where my siblings are. You understand. I'm not sure where you stand on the issues, Spencer. Your father has ties with the enemy, he cannot be trusted right now."

"I know…understand that who my dad is, is not who _I_ am. I don't like the whole mafia involvement, and I would never sell you guys out. You don't have to tell me where she's going, but know that I would _never_ hurt your sister."

"I know. As I'm sure you now know that my secret's out about me being the Underboss of the Bosca family, something I'm sure the mafia has told you father. So with that being said, I think you know that if I thought you even had a _thought_ of bringing harm to my sister, I would break you." Spencer started to pale and Teddy shot PJ a scolding glare.

"Don't _scare_ my boyfriend, PJ!"

"It's necessary. He cheated on you once, he's got to know where I stand." She chuckled nervously and squeezed Spencer tighter, it didn't matter to her how protective he was, she was just happy to see Spencer one last time before leaving. PJ breathed in and slowly leaned back in the cushion. "Spencer. Mom and Dad were killed in a kidnapping done by the Colorado Mob." Spencer's eyes bugged out. "A war is going to happen and the Colorado Mafia _will_ be eradicated. Don't think it means I'm automatically gunning for your father, but he should be worried. I _will_ be paying him a visit. When? I don't know. Where? I haven't decided. You understand."

"I do…You don't want me to let him know, I won't." Spencer appeared to be taking this hard, his entire body was shaking and had grown extremely cold. His expression was still stoic and calm, which Teddy felt must be difficult for him.

"Go into the next room with Teddy, say your goodbyes. When this war is over, she'll be back. I trust you to wait for her."

"Yes." Teddy rolled her eyes and smiled as she took his hand and led him into another room. She and Spencer took a seat at Emmett's kitchen table. Teddy scooted closer to him and put her head to his shoulder.

"PJ's just stressed and protective, don't mind him. Right now, it's hard to trust." She bowed her head and lifted her shoulders. In her heart, the evils of man was gripping at her like claws of a demon. After her trauma, her brother and younger siblings were close to the only people she wanted to trust, or could trust. Surely PJ was going through the same strain. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future, if we're going to have to move permanently or stay where we're at…I-I'm not ready to talk about the whole thing that happened, I just want to forget."

"Take your time Teddy, I'll always stand by you." She smiled as he squeezed her hand. It felt right being there with him, to be comforted and know that his love for her was real. She knew PJ could see it too, he only had to put on a tough front, regardless. After all, what else was he to do, having to look after an entire family? Her only wish right now was this war would be over with soon, and _maybe_ they could try to regain some semblance of balance in their lives.

Without their parents, though, it may not happen for them.

* * *

Your thoughts, mi amigos


	19. Reasons to Fight

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 19 (Reasons to Fight)

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Gabe asked as he and Jo sat on a bench in the gardens behind the compound. They were cuddled up to each other, his arm around her shoulders and her head was burrowing into his neck. Stan was laying on his back in front of them, letting the beat down on his belly. Normally Gabe would think a dog rolling around in the sun was adorable, but not when they were constantly moaning about their contentment.

"I'll be fine Gabe, you're needed there and I'm needed here." Jo lifted her head and rubbed her hand over his. "It's only until this whole war is over. I'm trusting you to get my family back safe, and I'll be here to help out your family. Your brother needs you now, more than I do." He did make that promise to his father that he and PJ both would protect their family and take care of them. He never thought he'd have to make good on it though, it was always believed his father would be around forever.

"I think I'm going to miss messing around with Dad…" He felt her kiss his lower jaw and looked back at her reassuring eyes. He knew things would be okay, there was no question in his mind that they would all be fine. "You know how hard it was to go out there and execute Rodney, knowing that connection that I have with his mother? I mean, sure it was 'only business', but it was hard."

"I know, it had to be done though, he would have only made matters worse. He knew where the compound was, he would never be loyal to Vitale. He also knew your family, the ones that were just rescued from captivity, would be coming this way." There really was no choice in the matter, Rodney _had_ to go. "When you go out there, try not to think of it as cold killing. You're not. You're doing it to protect and save the people you love. Your family, _my_ family…and who knows, maybe even all the people in Colorado who are afraid of Don Beppe's mafia. Without a doubt, I'm sure my father already knows a war's breaking out. After all, PJ didn't take out every single person at that site, some men likely ran and reported that the Underboss's family had been abducted and the said man just killed their number one Capo."

"Yeah…" His nerves were lessoning now, he was feeling more comfortable in doing what he was tasked with. They heard leaves rustling and looked at the shrubbery and vines that surrounded their secluded bench. Vitale, Damian, Skyler and Consigliere, Luca, all made their way towards them. Gabe slowly stood up and Jo remained seated, her hands folded in her lap. "Godfather?"

Vitale smiled warmly at Gabe and turned his eyes to Jo, "Miss Keener." Gabe turned slightly as Jo stood, astonished that he needed something else from her. "I have a favor to ask of you. As Don, I would like to extend my arms out to you and your family, to adopt your family into ours. When your mother and stepfather have been rescued, I would like to meet with them as well as your siblings." Jo quickly nodded her head and flashed a large grin.

"Yes, Godfather. I'd love nothing more. I only pray my family is returned safely." She stepped forward and took Gabe's hand in hers. He felt a powerful energy swirling in his chest as her soft eyes gazed up into his. "And I trust Gabe to honor my wishes, and to return them home safely." Vitale folded his hands at his waist and clicked his thumbs into his belt, slowly nodding his head.

"A request from the daughter of a Don is like receiving a favor from the Don himself." Gabe's eyebrows lifted up and he slowly looked towards Vitale. In this case, it was no surprise the feeling he was receiving was so strong, he would do anything for Jo and for her family. "Surely you understand the gravity of this nature, son?"

"Yes sir." He squeezed Jo's hand and looked back towards her, gazing into her sharp eyes. "I will do everything in my power to get them all home safe. It won't be easy, but I'll do it." Jo turned up a smile and gently pecked his lips.

"I know you will, Gabe. Besides, you have two strong people with you, both the Italian Underbosses! And…Emmett." He started to laugh, but stopped as he thought of Emmett going into an enemy base. Emmett was a scrappy type of guy, so it was very likely that he was formidable. Vitale winked at the two of them and arched an eyebrow.

"He's well on the verge of being promoted to a soldier," Vitale replied. "You would be surprised how well he handles whatever tasks are assigned to him. Of course, you can imagine with the training your elder brother received from Damian, that Emmett would only receive an equal amount of that training." Then it was settled, Gabe would never doubt Emmett's cunning or scrappiness. He only wished he could see how PJ managed to get Teddy, Charlie and Toby out into safety.

"I'll enjoy seeing my brother and Emmet in action." There _was_ the fear of PJ being extremely tough on him, which he could understand. "I wonder when PJ figured out I was involved with the mafia…"

"The second he saw you with Rodney," Skyler answered. Vitale nodded his head and Damian folded his arms over. "We know all the Made Men. He'd been speculating for some time, then he saw you with Rodney, and was talking to us about it all the way. Dad told him to just take it one step at a time and play it by ear, if anything happens, he could react. He _wanted_ to take Rodney out then and there, but we told him not to."

"Oh…" It was a scary thought, he wouldn't have had a problem with PJ doing such, but at the time he likely would have freaked. "I guess I will be seeing him in action a lot sooner than I thought…"

It was several hours later that the plane touched down at the airport and Emmett showed up with the family. Teddy was holding onto Toby while Charlie ran for Gabe, her happy eyes dancing upon him. Gabe hugged his little sister and glanced at Teddy, Skyler and Jo were already making their way to her. He could see the pain and fear in her eyes, whatever she'd suffered put that there, and it made him nauseous.

Teddy used to always be the optimistic, happy one. Never did she have to be afraid of anything, and now, she was trembling and looking over her shoulder every few seconds. _"They did this…"_ Gabe slowly walked towards her, meeting her wavering gaze. "Teddy, you're safe here." She gave him a smile, but her eyes remained frozen with terror.

"Yeah, that's what PJ said. We'd be safe here." She looked up as Vitale walked towards them. Several soldiers and associates surrounded them. Even with all this protection, that trauma never left his sister's eyes. The people that put that there, he was going to tear apart. He wanted to replace that sadness, that fear, with security. Jo was right in what she said he needed to do, and he was going to do it.

"Teddy. I promise you. The people that put that look in your eyes…" She glanced back to him, her eyebrows rose and her trembling lips parted mere centimeters. "PJ and I will take them out, and you won't have to be afraid anymore. We're going to get Jo's family back as well. She's going to stay here with you, for protection also. She and Skyler are here for you, everyone is."

"I know that. I'll be fine, Gabe. Just…be careful out there."

"It's about time to go," Emmett said from behind. Gabe turned to him, Damian was standing beside the man. He wanted more time with Jo, more time with his siblings, but he understood there was no ignoring that call to action. He gave Emmett a nod and reached over, hugging Teddy, then Jo. Jo moved her hand to his cheek and smiled into his eyes.

"This isn't goodbye," she whispered, smirking at the words she once told him so long ago. "We will see each other again, and this time, we'll be together."

"I didn't give up on you before, and I'm not going to do it again."

"I know you won't. _Still_ think you're a dumbass for getting mixed up with those thugs, but PJ will set you straight." He chuckled nervously and started to lean in for a kiss. Just as their lips brushed against each other, Emmett and Damian pulled him away and started dragging him to the private jet. He yelled out as Jo laughed once. She blew him a kiss and waved, he reached out for her. The two men rolled their eyes in response.

"Cut the dramatics," Emmett remarked. Gabe was pushed onto an airplane seat and he quickly folded his arms over, sighing and narrowing his glare upon them.

"Easy for you to say." The men laughed and sat on either side of him, Emmett to his right and Damian to his left. This was going to be a long flight, he could just feel it. Not to mention, he wasn't sure how to react whenever he saw his brother. It would be the first time seeing him and _knowing_ just how powerful he really was. "For the record, when we see PJ, am I going to be in a lot of trouble?" Emmett and Damian said nothing. Instead, Emmett leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes while Damian opened up a magazine. "Of course…don't answer my question…" With a sigh of defeat, he closed his eyes and moved his hands behind his back. "Time to meet tall dark and fearsome."

They arrived at the shattered remnants of the Duncan home, where PJ was waiting for them. He was standing out on the front lawn, his legs spread apart and his arms crossed. Gabe felt a terrible feeling of sorrow upon arriving at the house, so many memories had filled that place. PJ's back was turned, his eyes digging into the home. When the trio stepped behind him, he did not acknowledge them by looking their way.

"We may end up having to move from this house," PJ began with a tense tone in his voice, "Teddy couldn't bear coming here. Charlie can't understand. Toby, will never know his parents. What little of them Charlie remembers might be forgotten when she's older, so it's up to us to try and keep their memory alive. Our first job is going to be attending their funeral, there's a strong possibility that the Beppe family will be there, plotting an attack. We have to be ready for anything. I need to make you ready, Gabe…You need to understand the mafia, the true nature of the people you were working with. They're a vicious and violent group that will not take no for an answer, and you…you're going to help us deliver that 'no' to them, big time. You will personally help with the destruction of the mafia organization that took away the parents and the memories from our siblings…the organization that destroyed everything we held and that traumatized your girlfriend's family. Our siblings' happiness. Do you think you can handle it?"

"PJ…"

"Do you?" PJ slowly turned towards him, pushing his hands into his own pockets and gazing down with his right eyebrow pushed high on his creased forehead. Gabe did not dare deny his older brother's 'request'.

"I know I can. I am ready…"

* * *

Well? Thoughts?


	20. Funeral Under Fire

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 20 (Funeral Under Fire)

Gabe was seated in the front pews of the church, staring at the two open caskets in front of everyone. The service was filled with friends of the family, old neighbors and new acquaintances. He was amazed with how well the people dressing the bodies made his parents look, as if they didn't suffer a single trauma in death. It angered him to see them there, however. To think the very people he was involved with was responsible for their deaths. PJ hadn't made him feel any guilt, and left him no time to feel any.

The preacher droned on about the lives the couple led, about how family-like they were and how they would do almost anything for their family. Gabe wasn't all too interested in hearing the droll, mostly because it was the same thing heard at every single funeral on the planet. Yet, people still wept. Even people who never knew the couple were sobbing like they'd just lost the closest friend they ever had. It disgusted him, the people who cried for the sake of crying at funerals.

"They are survived by their five children," The preacher stated. PJ was already talking with the social workers about being in charge of his siblings, and it was agreed that he would be capable of doing so. Chances were also very likely they would all be moving to New York, which made sense. Eventually the preacher invited everyone to walk by the caskets and take a second to say their goodbyes. PJ and Gabe rose, both with hardened expressions on their faces and firm jowls. They didn't need to express their sorrow through tears, and it was nobody else's business why they did not seem to cry. They were, inside.

As he followed his brother to the caskets, first their mothers, he eyed Amy's body with a deep empty feeling in his gut. Amy looked somewhat pale from powder, but still retained every bit of beauty she had in life. Her hair flowed out over her shoulders like silk. Her hands were clasped over her chest, holding onto a single red rose that rose up and rested just neatly beneath her chin. He reached in and pat his hand over hers, closing his eyes and breathing in her familiar old laugh that enchanted his memory. He loved that in her last moments, she tried to fight for her family.

_"Just remember, Mama Bears are very territorial and her claws are always sharp too. Ba-Bam!" _

He chuckled to himself and slowly moved towards his father, gazing down at the well dressed man. The man's neck was covered well by the suit and tie he wore, making it near impossible to tell he'd been murdered. His hands were over his chest and his lips turned into a permanent smile. Gabe almost expected Bob to open up his eyes, sit up and shout out, 'Got you!'. His heart sank when that did not happen, but then, he did not have heightened hopes. It was depressing to think Teddy, Charlie and Toby could not be here, but he had to agree with PJ, it was for the best. They just couldn't risk those three being put into any further danger. He smiled at his father and slowly rubbed his shoulder. "I'll miss you Dad…made a great coach, if you can remember that…"

_"What? Coach fun didn't work out and now you've come crawling back to dad? Well, you know what? Maybe I've moved on!"_

_ "Fine, I'll ask Nick's dad."_

_ "No! No, no, no! I'll do it! I'll do it!" _

There were many memories to be had, many that were pleasant and filled with joy, but it all hurt to remember. He'd never forget them though, but it was depressing to think, Toby would never know them. Charlie had her videos, but would she even care when she got older? It was hard to know. He looked back at the people in the church, he saw neither set of grandparents. It troubled him greatly that they weren't there, but both were caught up in whatever charities they were involved with and couldn't make it.

Now was no time to be angry with them for it. As they made their way towards the cemetery, Gabe fondly remembered Teddy debating with her parents over a license. It put a smile on his face and a tear to his eye.

_"Mom, dad says I can't get my license?"_

_ "What?" Amy asked while looking over with arched eyebrows. "Why not?" Bob let out an exhausted sigh and walked over towards her._

_ "Because she's not ready." _

_ Teddy, already well aggravated and annoyed grunted and pointed out the obvious, "My driving instructor thinks I am. He says I'm doing great!"_

_ "The man works for public schools. He's got nothing to live for!" Teddy groaned and turned towards her mother, already tired from other issues of the day._

_ "Mom, can you say something?" _

_ Amy lifted her shoulders and shook her head, "Teddy honey, I'm sorry, but your father has a very small area of authority…and unfortunately for you, teaching you kids to drive is part of it." Bob tapped his chin and glanced at his wife, raising a curious eyebrow._

_ "So what else is in that area?"_

_ Amy slowly looked at him, thinking very deeply of her answer, yet hesitating not one second. "Barbecuing. That's it." With that, she walked off and Bob dipped his head in mourning._

Gabe laughed at the memory and PJ looked over at him, smiling slightly. "Remembering mom and dad?"

"Yeah." He always thought you should never really cry at funerals. It wasn't a time to remember they were gone, they were dead and never coming back. That was already well known. It was a time to remember them, to cherish them. "Maybe we should be shunned for it, but I think mom and dad would want us to be happy and to remember the good times with them. To laugh and reminisce."

"That's exactly what they would want. I remember it very clearly." He folded his arms over and Gabe slowly nodded his head. "When you were much younger, Mom and Dad were talking and Teddy brought up this crazy idea she got from some movie where the parents died and she asked Mom and Dad about it. They said if they were ever to die, they didn't want people to cry at their funeral because it would be far too depressing. Mom's always been high spirited, she wanted people to laugh, to be happy and celebrate her life at all times. Dad was somewhat the same, goofy and just full of jokes. 'Don't ever cry over me at my funeral', he would tell me growing up. 'Laugh, praise, joke, but don't you dare cry.' Mom was the same way." PJ slowly turned his lips up and swept away a tiny tear at the corner of his eyes. "She would always want someone to make a slideshow of her funniest moments in life, of her happiest moments, to laugh and tell stories of her. 'Like the movie stars', she would tell us, always striking a dramatic pose of some sort. 'You don't cry at movie stars' funerals, you celebrate their greatest moments!'"

"Yeah…yeah that makes sense." The cemetery was a bit of a tense place to be, all the graves and the stillness in the air was nearly too much for him to bear.

Focusing solely on the two holes with his parents' caskets above them beneath this hut, he almost wanted to throw himself in with them. Avenging their deaths, avenging Teddy, these were all things that would take a while, but seeing those graves gave him the determination to carry on the acts. "See anyone you don't recognize?" Gabe lifted his head at his brother's remark and scanned the area. There were several people in the cemetery at various graves, all remaining inconspicuous, and some with wandering eyes. "I think we need to get these innocents out of the cemetery. Fast."

"They're just people mourning their own losses…" PJ scoffed while both Damian and Emmett shook their heads. What was he missing? He stared at the suspicious people and pushed his hands into his pockets. Beneath the tuxedo he was wearing was a small shotgun that PJ stowed away for him, giving him a 'real' weapon for defense. PJ kept his Dillinger for the occasion, however.

"What little time in the mafia and you really have learned nothing. That is how rival families get their victims, by remaining inconspicuous about their plans. In fact, almost all mafia members do." Vitale came to mind with the request for Rodney's death. He'd made sure to make Rodney think he had a chance at salvation. Inconspicuous indeed.

"So how would we get the innocents out of here?"

"Simple. We tell the preacher to wrap it up."

"What?"

"He's on our tab." The preacher looked over to PJ. Gabe watched his brother motion his hand at his waist and the preacher immediately went into a quick prayer for the couple. The prayer was about twenty seconds, when it ended, he hurried everyone to take their leave. "The graves will be lowered later, I'm sure. Right now however…" As the people cleared out, those inconspicuous grave mourners began popping into action as expected.

Gabe, PJ, Emmett and Damian all took cover behind the caskets. Gabe's heart started racing as bullets flew over their heads. He prayed the caskets would not be struck, but that was the least of their worries. "What are we supposed to do now!"

"We need to get out of here, direct their attention away from Mom's and Dad's grave." PJ released his Dillinger and reached above the caskets, spraying bullets out at the shooters. Gabe could hear several grunts and quickly rose to get a view of the field. Immediately PJ pulled him down, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Stay down airhead! I don't need you getting shot on your first damn day! Stay close to me. Emmett, Damian, move out. One of you gain their attention and the other of you, bring the car closer to us."

"I'll grab the car," Emmett replied. Damian nodded and ran out towards the left, firing off several rounds of ammunition from an AK-47. Emmett moved the other direction, towards the black four door Accord. Gabe poked his head over the casket and spotted a man in a black tux reloading his weapon. Thinking fast, he fired a shot, striking the man in the shoulder, then the waist. PJ lifted his eyebrows as the man collapsed on the ground, clutching his side.

"Not a bad shot Gabe. You're learning."

"I can't believe these people are doing this right now!"

"It's the mafia. They don't care _what_ the occasion is, they'll do this whether rain, snow, or sleet. At least these guys will." To Gabe's right, he saw one of the men running for them, pistol withdrawn. Before he could react, however, Emmett slammed into the man with the car. PJ put his hand to Gabe's back and pointed at the car. "Move, move, move!"

"On it!" The brothers ran for the car. PJ hopped into the passenger seat while Gabe hopped into the back.

"We're going to drive to our safehouse…Gabe, keep your head _down_, got it?"

"All right!" He wasn't about to question his brother's orders. After all, he was the far more experienced veteran. As they drove through the cemetery, they stopped to collect Damian, who climbed into the back seat without hesitation. When they sped off, they were _still_ under fire, and now with two cars chasing them and attempting to run them off the road.

Damian and PJ would occasionally aim out of the car and fire at the pursuing vehicles. Gabe never once got up to look, but he could practically feel the heat of gunfire and bullets all around him. His heart was in full panic mode and his body felt both numb and rigid at the same time. _This_ was something he'd never experienced before!

He covered his head with his arms, wincing as glass shattered around him. His body trembled as the adrenaline rattled him. He needed to get stronger somehow, to get used to this mess. How was _PJ_ the tough one? Years of training, sure.

After what felt like an eternity of gunfire and shouting, it all ceased with a single explosion behind them. They took a ramp onto a freeway and drove casually towards the next exit. Gabe slowly looked up from the seat to see glass covering the leather. Damian was still eyeing the roads and Emmett was focused solely on what was in front of him.

PJ struck the radio and let it play a classical tune until they reached the safehouse just moments later, holding his hand over a wound on his arm. The safehouse was a small apartment with a rusty wooden door. They parked on the edge of the curb and PJ slowly looked over his shoulder, smirking at Gabe.

"Welcome to the _real_ mafia."

* * *

Now how's that last line supposed to make Gabe feel any better? Oh right, it's not. What are your thoughts as you read the funeral scene? The war has begun


	21. Studying the Beppe Mafia

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 21 (Studying the Beppe Mafia)

Gabe listened as his brother let out a pained grunt in the other room, PJ had been struck in the upper left arm and was now getting the bullet removed. He couldn't stand seeing his brother in the situation and was shocked that PJ wasn't actually screaming out the painful experience. Perhaps he'd dealt with this before? PJ was getting a bottle of brandy poured over his wound like they did in the movies, he never really thought about how it all worked.

What was their next plan to be, he pondered. Don Beppe was down one Associate and one Capo, and they had to take out the remaining made men before taking down the Don himself. Of course, it was a necessity to work fast, at the risk that harm would come to Jo's family. While listening to Damian and Emmett doctor up PJ's wounds, they were having him read up on Luca's files regarding Don Beppe's family.

Of course, sitting on the stained red couch wasn't too good, all things considered. He held the papers in his hand, leaning back against the armrest and occasionally glancing up at the door to make sure no unexpected visitors came running in. His eyes drifted back to the papers, he was in awe of the detailed information they had on the Beppe family. Of course, he'd want to keep tabs on the enemy too if a possible war was to break out.

Don Daniel Beppe, forty-seven years old, stationed in his safe house in Havana Cuba. His mafia family was burning bridges every which way. He was having to keep wars from breaking out with various different mafias. His Consigliere, Paul Walsh, was set to be the next stop. Of the three capos, one was now dead and two remained. Elia Durante, and Salvatore Marcello. Each typically had three soldiers in charge of the many associates and outsiders. Only the Beppe mafia family appeared to have lost a couple soldiers to fights, illness, and other causes of deaths. Not to mention, the soldiers under the Capo that PJ had killed were on the construction site at the time, meaning they were dead as well. Rodney had been under that Capo's charge, so that was one whole branch that no longer existed.

Gabe lifted an eyebrow and flinched as his brother let out another pained grunt. Ignoring it, he set the pages of the men already gone on the coffee table beside him, then moved the already read pages to the back. His eyes fixated on that of Underboss, Vladimir. Vladimir was thirty-six years old and lived in the upper crust of Denver. He was often seen hanging around _Patrick's Pub and Brew _downing a couple shots before heading off to work. A good plan of attack would be to strike in the opening hours of the morning. Don's orders were simple: Put a bullet between his eyes.

The second Capo, Elia, forty-three years old, was seen mostly around the main park at high noon. He would take a stroll each day around the park. Gabe studied his image closely, having only seen Vladimir as far as seeing the higher ups went. Elia's photo was of him leaning against a waist high fence with another man, chatting briefly. He had a red circle around his head. He wore thick brimmed glasses and had a head of full brown hair. His lips were framed by a goatee. He was very lanky in appearance, his skin was pale and his eyebrows only semi-existent.

Gabe moved the page downward, rubbing his chin as he stared at the soldiers directly beneath Elia. Two of the main had passed, one recently died in a drive by caused by the Cuban mafia. Unrelated to Deuce's cousins shooting up the transport van that carried away Jo's family. The second death was natural causes, the man had a heart attack and collapsed on a ballroom floor. Currently, Elia was interviewing associates for a promotion. He needed to be knocked off before that happened.

The one soldier of his remaining was a shady figure who looked somewhat like Rodney. He was dark skinned, had narrow eyes and a smile like a serpent. He was listed as thirty-eight old and a strong pool shark whose primary hangout was _2-Balls Joint_. Gabe chuckled at the name of the location and shook his head. The soldier was Quincy Adams, surprisingly not a name he would have expected the man to have. He would have expected an Italian name, but perhaps Daniel Beppe was trying to get away from the Italian side?

Gabe licked his thumb and pulled away the page, moving to the last remaining Capo. Salvatore was a sixty-three year old, somewhat muscular man with a white moustache and bald head framed by white hair running from the sides of his head to the back. He walked with a cane, but was not to be misunderstood, he could be a virulent fighter. The cane was said to hold a hidden blade which he used as a bayonet. His usual hangout was the cemetery, where each day he would visit his wife who passed four years prior. He'd sit before her grave from at least 1:00 to 6:00 in the evening. This gave them a five hour window to strike.

He too only had one soldier left. One of his soldiers had been struck during the chase with Deuce's family. He was the man that Gabe saw was wounded but still breathing, he died en route to the hospital. The second lost Soldier had allegedly pissed off Salvatore by saying something at the wrong time, and that was when the elder decapitated him. Gabe wasn't surprised to hear about the incident, most of the people in Don Beppe's family were virulent and quick to anger, not afraid to cut anyone off in their rage.

The one remaining soldier already had one foot in the grave, it seemed. Manny Grant, fifty years of age and with grey fuzz where his hair should be. He was in the hospital, currently undergoing treatment for kidney failure. He was currently awaiting a kidney transplant. This man had been one of the most dangerous soldiers, sadistic and calculating. He would strike down his own men without hesitation or warning, everywhere he went, he thought he owned the place. The Don's order for Manny: Cut off his life support.

"How's the studying?" Gabe's head jerked up and his gaze turned back to the doorway. PJ was standing with his left shirt sleeve torn off and a bandage running from his shoulder to his elbow. Emmett was to his right, leaning with his elbow propped up onto PJ's shoulder. Damian was on the left. PJ motioned to the papers and cleared his throat, "If you need any further briefing, let me know."

"No, I got it. I'm just a little surprised that all the made-men are here in Denver while Don Beppe is in Cuba." PJ slowly nodded his head and moved over, gingerly taking the last page in Gabe's hands. "Manny Grant, stuck on life support."

"Correct. He is the soldier responsible for the most deaths associated with gang-related deaths in Denver. As we speak, I have men taking over the rackets and businesses that Manny was responsible for obtaining." PJ closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. "Manny will be the first to die." Gabe's mouth opened, but he held back his words. At this point, he wasn't surprised at all. It had to be done, and Manny sounded like a person that deserved the death that was coming to him. "Gabe, I know you've never seen your own brother in such a situation, but this is the way things are now. I need you to stand beside me, because there will be times that I, Damian, and Emmett will call upon you. Understand that."

"I do."

"I know Jo taught you to shoot a gun, and Damian had you shoot Rodney. The funeral was to show you what you would be facing. The CO mafia taught you to take over rackets. Now, it's time to pick yourself up and get into the real action."

"I'm just an outsider though, right? I mean, what can I do?"

"You get promoted by listening to your superiors and doing the jobs given to you," Damian replied. Gabe felt a rush of fear course through his veins, what were they going to have him do now? Damian looked to the paper and narrowed his eyes. "Manny, if he wasn't hospitalized, would be the hardest soldier to take out. Hospitalized, he is less of a threat, you will be taking him out." His heart stopped and a knot formed in his throat. "This report needs added information, his lungs are failing him. He is reliant on oxygen."

Emmett's gaze fixated onto Gabe, his arms folded over his chest and his back straightened. "His oxygen machine is going to have a mysterious failure to deliver the much needed material. He will suffocate for lack of air. Understand?" He didn't hesitate to agree, he was going to earn his brother's trust if he had to. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to PJ's eyes solemn gaze.

"I know it's not easy, Gabe. It's never going to be easier. Don't think I'm heartless, I hate all this killing too. Don Vitale doesn't believe in killing unless necessary, and right now, it is. This is for Mom, for Dad, for Jo, our siblings, and your girlfriend's family."

"I know…it's just, I'm still processing."

"Look. Damian, Emmett and I are all seasoned veterans, essentially. If you need to talk, we're all here to talk. We're here to help, so don't think you're the odd one out. We won't make you do anything if we don't think it can be done, we won't put you in the front lines."

"Doesn't that make me a liability?"

"It can't be helped, Gabe. No, I wouldn't call you a liability. You're a great asset, but all this that you're going through now is just going to help you for when we have to storm Beppe's compound. You understand?"

"Y-Yeah…" A calm feeling ran over him and his heart filled with certainty. He had faith that he could do this, and he trusted his brother and brother's friends to help him any time he needed them. He closed his eyes, breathed in slowly, and gave PJ a half-smile. "I can do this, PJ. I want to save Jo's family, I feel partially responsible." His smile faded and his fists clenched. "I feel responsible because Rodney had me transport them away without me knowing who they were."

"Right…They tricked you, used you, betrayed you. They messed with my little brother, and now they will disappear from Colorado for good. Starting with their last two remaining soldiers."

"So Gabe," Damian stepped beside PJ and placed a hand onto his shoulder while smirking down at Gabe. "You ready for this?"

The memory of the hostages came to his mind, followed by the thoughts of what just went down at his parent's funeral. He recalled Teddy's tears and felt a terrible anger rising in his chest. He clenched his fists and opened his eyes, his body filling with a strong determination. He looked to the trio and firmly nodded. "More than I'll ever be."

* * *

Your thoughts?


	22. Vendetta

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 22 (Vendetta)

Gabe followed the men into the Denver hospital, each of them wore shades and was dressed in suit and tie. He wasn't, he was simply wearing a long sleeved grey hooded jacket and khaki jeans. They were getting him a suit after this. "So, we know where his room is?" Gabe asked as they moved through the somewhat empty waiting room. It was nighttime, and Gabe knew the hospital staff well, which was something he could use to an advantage.

PJ stepped beside him, his eyebrows in a flat line over his shades, "Yeah, but we need to be on the lookout. We don't know if he'll have men watching over him or not. Likely not, due to his being just a low rank on the made-men hierarchy." That was essentially the Colorado Mafia, though. Gabe knew from what PJ had said on the way over that in Don Vitale's mafia, every rank was guarded if they were in the hospital. The mafia meant protection. "This should be an easy mafia to take out, to be honest. Don Beppe has never done anything to really strengthen himself."

"You don't say…I guess that would explain why they're more like a gang than anything else, huh?" They stepped into a hallway corridor that separated into three separate halls. Gabe glanced up as his brother ordered Emmett and Damian to secure the side tunnels. The duo ran off and PJ guided him down the middle tunnel. "Manny is down this way, isn't he…"

"Yeah, but fret not. I've secured this place on the outside, Nurse Karen is to ensure no civilians are in the way." Gabe raised an eyebrow and chuckled nervously. He didn't want to screw up and make the hospital a warzone, did PJ think that gunfire was to break out? PJ looked to him and pat his shoulder. "Relax little brother, it'll be all right. If everything goes as planned, we can do this without any issues."

"All right…" The duo made it to the door to Manny's room and stood on opposite sides of it, glancing in through the glass window. There were two men on either side of Manny's bed, standing like guards. Gabe began to pale and quickly looked to PJ for guidance. "What are we going to do now? He's being guarded!"

"I am aware. We open the door, and shoot their kneecaps out."

"I'm not that good of a shot!"

"I've had practice, let me deal with this." He rolled his eyes and stepped to the side, looking towards the wall in front of him. PJ pushed a muffler on his gun and kicked open the door. Gabe whistled a quiet tune as two gunshots rang out. When he looked into the room, both men were on the ground, clutching their legs. His eyebrows rose in shock, his heart grew heavy in his chest and his breath caught in his throat. "All right Gabe, take care of Manny." Damian and Emmett came running down the hallway, their pistols withdrawn. "Damian, Emmett and I will ensure the guards stay down."

"Okay…" He carefully made his way in, meeting Manny's furious gaze from the hospital bed. Damian and Emmett picked the guards up to their feet, they were going to help carry the men out behind hospital, then were to proceed to throw them down and leave them there to bleed. Hospital cameras had been turned off and the security had been bribed to 'become blind'.

Manny had a plastic tube running from his body to a machine providing him with much needed oxygen. The man's eyes widened as Gabe slowly reached for the tubing. "What-what are you doing?" Manny's voice came out tense and groggy, "You're Rodney's brat, aren't you? You're betraying us, aren't you?" I should have known you were a traitor!"

"Shut up, Manny. I'm doing this for my girlfriend's family. You messed with my family too, and not to mention, my brother is Don Vitale's underboss." Manny's eyes flew towards PJ and a gasp left his lips. Gabe pulled a small clamp from his pocket and moved it to the tube. He couldn't hesitate for a second, he knew how precious every second was to be. If he hesitated, there was a chance for guards to come rushing in.

"Wait, don't do this boy! I-I can help you. I can help kill Don Beppe." There wasn't a lot of good this man could do from the bed, and he didn't trust a single word coming from the snake's mouth. Being the most virulent soldier meant nothing could be trusted. "In fact, I bet you didn't know, but Don Beppe-"

"Again, shut up. You bastards used me! You killed my parents, and I'm not letting you hurt Jo's family either!" He slammed the clamp on the tube and narrowed his eyes, growling vehemently as Manny gasped for air. "Say goodbye to your oxygen, Manny…" PJ looked away towards the doorway and Gabe watched with a growing amount of despair as Manny's eyes rolled to the back of his head and the last breath of air drifted away from his lungs.

Manny tried to say something, scowling at Gabe before choking and falling limp. It was at that point Gabe released the clamp and slowly stood up, stumbling towards the right as his eyes studied the lifeless body. He felt a numb feeling washing over him and his legs began to tremble. This man may have deserved death, but who was he to take a life? He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head as PJ stepped before him. Rodney's death flashed by his head, his stomach twisted up into knots and bile began a slow and steady rise up his throat.

"I know you said it doesn't get any easier, but…this pain, this anxiety I'm feeling…"

"It won't get easier, but it will get better. You just have to keep remembering what you're doing this for. Everyone has a price, Gabe. Everyone has a reason." He slowly nodded, moving trembling fingers to his stomach as he stumbled towards the doorway. His hand flew to the doorframe and he hunched over, resting his other hand on his knee. Sweat poured from his forehead as his heart began racing. He was beginning to feel dizzy. PJ rubbed his back and let out a heavy sigh. "Do you want me to go ahead and send you back to New York?"

His eyes shot open and he quickly clenched his fist, shooting up with an overwhelming determination. "N-No. I have to do this, and I will." He wasn't a coward, he made a promise and he intended to keep it. "I'm going to save Jo's family, no matter how strenuous this is. I _have_ to do this. There is no alternative."

"You don't have to do this. I just wanted you to get a taste of what's going on. You see how the mafia works…Not to mention, I don't want to risk you getting killed and therefore losing another relative to these hacks."

"Is that what you're afraid of?" His muscles tensed and he scoffed without thinking too much of it, how could his brother think he'd get himself killed? "You're the leader here, but I can tell you this right now brother, I'm not going to let myself be liability. Not to mention, I'm staying right here to do this job. I'm not quitting now while I still have a chance."

"All right. I can accept that. We have the other soldier to go after, then we're going to start knocking off the remaining two Capos. After that, Don Beppe's underboss, then Beppe himself. First, however, we need to get their consigliere on our ticket. Especially if Spencer wants to keep dating our sister, because Mr. Walsh can't be fraternizing with the enemy." Gabe could attest to this, and he was overcome with a growing desire to sit down and talk with this man. He wanted to know why he was working with the Beppe family.

"What about the rackets? You said you had your men handling those as is?"

"Yes. We'll be receiving various reports all the while, but we're to maintain a steady flow with the leaders. Tearing down their branches one by one. With Beppe's death, they'll be disbanded for good. That is our aim. This is what they earn for crossing the Italians."

Midnight rolled around, the timeframe that was on the soldier, Quincy Adams's report. Gabe knew he could walk in and be inconspicuous due to the fact that not _everyone_ in the gang knew yet of his betrayal. PJ and Emmett went in with him, nobody knew they were really with the family. Yet. Damian, however, knew he'd be recognized based on his status as the New York Underboss. He waited on the other side of the street, gun drawn if needed.

"Isn't it rare for mafia families to have two Underbosses?" Gabe asked quietly as he studied the smoky room. Quincy was at the back pool table, powdering his cue stick as another person racked the balls. There were about four people surrounding them. There was a line of people at the bar to their right, all sitting and drinking anything from water to vodka. The bartender watched them, washing a glass and giving them a nod of recognition.

"It's not that rare, Gabe. Many mafia families have two Underbosses. It's actually preferred on the chance that something happens to one. Don Vitale didn't have two until he thought to put me up as one. Really it strengthens the family because it adds more manpower." He hadn't thought of that before, though it made plenty of sense. Don Vitale's family was one of the largest mafia families in existence.

Under each of his Underbosses, Damian and PJ, were four Capos. So in total the family had eight. Under each capo were four soldiers. Each of the soldiers had a line of associates they were in charge of. After that, simply outsiders who were working their way on becoming an associate.

"Also Gabe, when someone new is promoted, there's a line of promotions to come. For instance, say a Capo becomes an underboss. Now a soldier must move to Capo position, then an associate can move up and take that place. There are many fresh eyes out there, we're everywhere really."

"Right…So, whenever you marry Skyler and Don Vitale steps down, you become the new head of the family?" PJ nodded and Gabe looked over to Emmett, then the window of the building. "Damian becomes your Underboss, then?"

"Yes."

"Will Emmett become a Capo?"

"It's always possible, but remember that a second slot opens up when I am promoted to Don position. I will have to choose another Underboss, and if Emmett proves himself as he does, it could possibly be him. Really it is whoever falls into the Don's favor that gets promoted, and you get the Don's favor by proving yourself to him."

"That makes sense."

"Right." In the corner of his eyes, he saw the bartender closing the bar with a metal barrier coming down from the ceiling. He flexed his hand and watched as PJ and Emmett reached into their jackets. PJ's gaze moved towards the window and his lips curled into a smirk.

What came next played out in almost slow motion before Gabe's eyes. The window shattered as bullets ran through them, striking the mafia men around Quincy's pool table. Emmett and PJ released their guns as the men at the bar pulled their own weapons out, showing themselves to be members of the Colorado mafia.

PJ and Emmett charged for cover and Gabe quickly sprang for a table, throwing his arms over his head as bullets struck the surface of the table. He looked over to the pool table, seeing Quincy make a run for it.

"No. You're _not_ getting away!" He pursued, grabbing a pool stick as he bolted from the window. Quincy looked over his shoulder, shouting as he started to pick up his pace. When he rounded the corner, Gabe rounded the corner. "Don't think you're getting away, Quincy! Come back here, coward!"

"Gabe!" He looked over his shoulder and smiled when he saw Damian following, he was relieved to not be the only one pursuing. Considering the fact that he was holding a pool stick and not his gun. Damian aimed his gun for Quincy and fired a shot. Quincy screamed out as he fell to his knees and spread his arms out to the side.

"Shit!" Quincy cried out. Gabe pulled back on the pool stick and let out a powerful yell as he slammed it hard into the man's back, managing to use enough strength to stab into him. Quincy's eyes widened and he collapsed on the side. Gabe panted heavily and looked over as Damian ran up beside him. Quincy's body convulsed as blood pooled beneath him.

"That is an impressive strike," Damian remarked while arching an eyebrow. Gabe clenched his eyes and turned away with a heavy sigh. Damian pat his shoulder and motioned his head towards the building. "We'll get a clean-up crew out here, let's check on your brother and Emmett."

"This is almost too much, Damian…"

"I know. It's not easy, and it's not going to be easy. Just take a deep breath, and let's get back. Your brother's counting on us."

"He is. Yeah." They turned around to see both PJ and Emmett jogging around the corner. Their hair was damp with sweat and their clothes had a bit of blood on them, possibly from the mafia men. "You guys made it? We got Quincy…" PJ inhaled and let out a sharp exhale as his eyes fell onto the soldier. "Damian had to shoot him to slow him down."

"Good."

"You guys unhurt?"

"We're fine. Let's get a clean-up crew and head back to the safe house. We need to get to sleep. First thing tomorrow, we're to discuss with Mr. Walsh his potential future."

* * *

The story written-wise is complete and there are less than 10 chapters left, so this story will be on daily notice. So, Gabe's taken out the made men here, what are your thoughts? Yes he's hardening, it comes with territory, inevitable unfortunately, just as PJ has. Though they still have their softness, and who knows, Gabe may not be in the Mafia business forever.


	23. Older Brother Stepping Up

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 23 (Older Brother Stepping Up)

Cuba, somewhere on the Beppe compound, Tyler opened his eyes and looked around the semi dark room he was in. There were two dim windows allowing for the entrance of the sun. He could see the outline of his family members and their faces, but that was it. Avery and Stan were gone, a fact that terrified him when he first realized it. Now it was up to him to make sure his family was safe, but he wasn't sure that he could, not knowing where they were.

Bennett, Chloe, and Ellen had yet to really wake up. They woke when they were being transported onto the plane, but then when they arrived here, the people gassed them again. It knocked them all out cold, and the guards kept coming in to make sure they were either awake or asleep over the course of days. He'd faked being unconscious still, for some reason the gas hadn't afflicted him in the same way.

His wrists were still bound behind his back, as they'd been during this time. They were in an empty room, there was essentially no way for him to untie his binds. At the sound of moans, his head shot up and he quickly glanced to his youngest sister. "Chloe?" The young girl was moving her head and the parents were starting to open their eyes. Chloe's mouth opened and fear stretched over her face. He bounced himself over to her. "Shh, we're in captivity I think. Don't scream…" Chloe looked into his eyes, her body trembling. Bennett was jerking his arms in a failing attempt to move them, and Ellen looked like she was barely adjusting to their location.

"Where the hell are we?" Bennett asked, narrowing his eyes. "Wait…where's Avery?" Chloe gasped at Bennett's realization and Ellen flinched. "Stan's gone too." Ellen looked ready to scream and Bennett was looking around the room in a furious rage. Tyler figured it was up to him to keep them calm, however possible. He'd already gotten his panic out of his system some time ago. "Ellen, what's going on? Do you know anything?"

"I don't! I don't even know where my daughter is!" Ellen began to curl up, whimpering and trembling as though a violent storm were rattling her. With annoyance, Tyler stared at the hair in front of his eyes, it was unruly and itchy, something he'd yet to get used to. "They've got us, Bennett! Oh god, I'm so sorry!"

"Guys stop," Tyler muttered. The others looked to him, all visibly shaken and with tears in their eyes. "We've been here a couple days now, I've been trying to think of a way out of this room, but I don't think it would get any easier." He pressed back against a wall and used his feet to push himself into a standing position. Their ankles _were_ tied, but the rope on his was loose enough that he managed to slip it off his feet after removing his shoes. He glanced to the glossy window and frowned at the surrounding area, littered with guards. "There's like a freakin' army out there."

In the distance, he could see _Havana_ on a large sign. "Cuba," he whispered beneath his breath. "We're in Cuba…" The others let out a panicked gasp while Tyler staggered back one step. They were an ocean away from home, from Avery and Stan, and the life they knew. His heart crushed and the world around him seemed to crumble apart.

"I-If we're in Cuba," Ellen bowed her head and Tyler looked over his shoulder to her. "There was a friend Jo met some time ago named Deuce. He was part of the Cuban mafia, they have some parts around here I think." Bennett groaned and let his head fall back onto the wall. Tyler knew his father was likely to be angry over being taken in by the mafia due to his wife's ex husband, but the man could deal.

He had to be strong for his family, he had to keep them together while also making sure no harm came to them. It was time to step up to position of older brother and, for now, head of his own family because neither Bennett or Ellen were going to be in the right mindset for a while. "I wonder if we can't reach them somehow. Maybe they can help get us to safety?"

"Something tells me we're not going anywhere," Bennett growled and glared angrily at the door. Tyler could hear an echo of footsteps down the hall, so he quickly sat down on the ground beside Chloe and tucked his legs up to his chest. The door flew open and in stepped Daniel Beppe with three other men. "Where is my daughter?!" Bennett's body jolted up in his anger, but he couldn't jump up with enough strength. "Who the hell do you think you are!" Ellen looked to the man and whimpered, her trembling increasing. She was usually a strong woman, but now tied up, lost and without knowing whether her daughter was safe, of course she was going to have trouble regaining her composure.

Tyler stared at Daniel and frowned at the darkness in his eyes, picking up on Ellen's reaction, he quickly nudged his father who was to his right. "Dad, I think this is that guy. The ex-husband. The man in charge." Bennett's eyes widened and Daniel began to smirk. Tyler narrowed his eyes on the man and resisted the urge to leap up and start kicking. That surely wouldn't go over too well.

"I see the boy has figured it out," Daniel smirked. Daniel crouched beside Ellen and she quickly looked away. He put his hand to her chin and pulled her face towards her. Tyler flinched, glaring at the man with a deeper anger. He wanted to cuss him out, to tell him not to put his hand on his mother. Daniel's cold smirk twisted further and his head tilted to the right. "Don't worry Ellen, our little family will be complete soon. Our daughter escaped my grasp, but we'll find her."

"Leave Avery alone!" Tyler screamed out. He was protecting Chloe by letting her hide behind him, but couldn't protect his mother. Hence, he was going to turn the attention towards him. Daniel quickly looked to him and narrowed his eyes.

"Her name is _Jo_, in case you didn't know." Daniel's eyes fell onto Chloe and his eyebrow raised high. "So you're not scared of me like the rest, are you Tyler? Well…Vlad?" Ellen gasped out as a muscular looking man with a thin black moustache began walking towards Tyler. Tyler scowled at the man, studying him. "By the way, this is my underboss, Vladimir."

Vlad reached down and grabbed Chloe by the hair, yanking her back violently. Tyler's eyes widened as his sister screamed out. Bennett began to lunge, only to have another man fire a gunshot into the wall beside the man's head. Tyler twisted his gaze over to see if his dad was okay, and Bennett had become stiff, with a mild tremble. Ellen screamed out and Vladimir tossed Chloe against the floor, then slammed his heavy shoe into Tyler's chest.

He felt the wind leave him and gasped in an attempt to pull it back in, but pain was shooting through his body. He began panting heavily, trembling as sweat began dripping down his face. His hair fell before his eyes and his lips pulled back into a scowl. "Vladimir, huh? Yeah…I'll remember that name…" Rage was coursing through him and his blood was boiling, he had murder in his eyes and was preparing himself to fight if they so much as touched his family again.

"Good," Vladimir's voice was thick and his accent heavy. The man let out a crimson laugh and bounced a rifle on his shoulder. "Not that it matters much, but it is good that you can know the name of the man who may eventually have to kill you if you fuck up." Ellen screamed out for them to leave her family alone and Tyler shot her a look, not needing to outwardly tell her to stop yelling at them and further endangering the family. He turned his gaze back to Chloe, the girl was shaking and curling up on the ground, weeping bitterly. He'd never seen her so terrified, so wounded.

Daniel rose up and put his hand to his chest, "Forgive me Ellen."

"You bastard!" She cried out. Daniel chuckled darkly and shrugged his shoulders.

"We had to rough your family up, they need to know we mean business. However I can't send the Italians a message through killing any of you, it would be worthless. Clearly I'm not going to kill you, Ellen dear, I just want to talk."

"I want nothing from you!"

"That may change when we find Jo."

"You won't find her! You'll never find her! If she got away, it means she's gotten away for good!"

"We will see…" He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes on the family. Chloe crawled over to Tyler and he let her cuddle close to him. If all he could do was comfort her, then so be it. "Either way, we're in the midst of a war. You and your family are the only things we have as leverage." Ellen gasped, and Tyler looked over, curious if that was to mean anything. He remembered Jo saying something about knowing the Italian Mafia. If they were at war, was it because of her? _'Tensions are high'_. "They've already killed one of my Capos and I'm out a number of Soldiers. I'm running low on my Made Men…but never worry Ellen, I have some businesses and rackets starting out here in Cuba. I just have to be careful not to mess with the Martinez Family…one war is enough. Though they were the ones that shot up my truck."

_Martinez? Deuce?_ Tyler had been drifting in and out of consciousness on the truck ride, and he was sure he heard Jo talking to someone over the phone. Deuce Martinez. "If you're getting caught up with the Martinez family, be careful," The woman replied, sneering at Daniel. He huffed as she narrowed her eyes. "Deuce Martinez's father is the head of the Cuban mafia, in case you didn't know. They're allied with the Bosca Italian Family." Daniel hummed thoughtfully and Tyler started talking to himself under his breath, pondering the connection. If they had control of the majority of Cuba, then a war could break out here too. If the Italians were attacking them in Colorado, then the Cubans attacked them here, they'd be a dying force!

"How would they have known we were transporting you, Ellen dear?"

"I don't know." Ellen smirked confidently and flipped her hair back, the determination and fight was returning to her eyes. Perhaps it was due to knowing her daughter was safe. Tyler had to hand it to Jo, that girl didn't know when to quit.

"Something tells me you do…You know, Jo's phone no longer works."

"You'd still have to ask Jo. But I guess you can't do that with a war afoot." Daniel narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, glaring into her eyes. His nostrils flared and his muscles tightened. Tyler glanced over protectively, studying both Daniel and Bennett in the corner of his eyes. Bennett was still back against the wall, shivering with wide eyes frozen on the wall across the room. Tyler wondered if this was shell shock, but he didn't know enough about shell shock to make that decision.

"Don't think I'm above striking you when you're tied up, Ellen." Ellen spat in his face and he flinched. Tyler's eyes widened as Daniel reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cloth. Daniel wiped his face, then proceeded to deal a swift blow to Ellen. She screamed and fell to her left, landing on Bennett's legs.

"Mom!" Tyler screamed out. He saw her cell phone drop from her pocket onto the ground beneath her and beside Bennett's leg. Daniel and his men didn't see it, but had they been so stupid to not take their phones? He growled and glared at the men. "Don't you fucking hit my mother or my sister! Not even my father!"

"Oh shut up, boy." Daniel brushed himself off and smirked as Vladimir threw a knife towards him. Tyler yelped and ducked, letting the knife dig itself into the wall above his head. They left it there and exited the room. He opened one eye and stared at the door, it was padlocked with no way out.

Looking at his family, all sullen and with fearful expressions, it was clear he was the only one even remotely calm. He pressed his lips together and stared down at the cell phone, was it a possibility this Deuce kid was in Ellen's phone? It seemed like the mother of someone married to the mafia would have connections to other mafia families as well, especially if the Italian Mafia was protecting them.

There were reasons he was remaining strong right now. He eyed the knife in the wall and smirked, pushing himself up to his feet. Chloe moved her head to the ground, but didn't question what he was doing, as she might have before all of this. He didn't have the time to discuss with his family.

He wanted to join the military, was talking to recruiters, and his old gym coach was a retired Marine Corps drill instructor. He'd convinced the man to help him 'prepare' for the military, so every day after gym he'd meet with the man and run through a mini obstacle course. He didn't want to tell his family because he wanted to essentially surprise them with it, but now perhaps he wondered if it was possible to use what he learned in this situation. He was, by no means, an experienced veteran, but he did learn a thing or two about stealth and escape.

Tyler pressed his back against the hilt of the blade and closed his eyes, breathing in sharply and holding his breath. He closed his fingers and extended his hands outwards, then shifted his wrists upwards. The blade slicked through his hands with smooth precision and cut through the ropes. He pulled his hands around his body, examining his reddened wrists. They were raw from the rope, but fortunately, he'd avoided cutting off his fingers.

No one looked up to see what happened, all three were still in shock. With a heavy sigh, he reached down and grabbed up his mother's cell phone. He was amazed to see they still had reception and about half battery life left. "All right…I guess this is a long shot…but if it helps my family in any way…"

Tyler clicked the address book while flexing his free hand and circling his wrist around to regain the feeling in that hand. He studied the contact list and pressed his back against the wall beside the window, glancing out to make sure no one could see in the window. They had to be a few levels up, no more than eight stories. They were in some sort of tower, by the looks of it. He could see the extension of Cuba, it was a nice view. "It'd be nicer if we weren't being held hostage I suppose."

Turning his attention back to the contact list, he was amazed to see Deuce Martinez. Mentally he thanked his mother and hit the call button. After about three rings, Deuce answered. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Deuce Martinez, I hope?"

"That's my name."

"Please! This is Tyler, Av-Jo's older brother." He heard the guy gasp, instantly recognizing Jo's name. He was relieved and prayed they could do something.

"Are you guys safe at all? My cousins tried to shoot that truck off the road at Jo's request, but they said they could see them still driving. The back doors had opened up…I couldn't reach Jo after that."

"Jo might be safe. At least, I hope so. She and our dog…We, however, are still in captivity. We're at this compound in Cuba-"

"Oh no…The Colorado Mafia's at war now with the Bosca family. What do you want with me?"

"_Help!_ We're in Cuba, and mom said your family has strong ties here."

"Yeah, Dad runs the family business. Uncle Frank's over here too as the Chicago Underboss. Dad's other brother lives in Cuba as the Underboss there. My girlfriend's father, Don Rio Garcia is another Cuban family with some mafia ties down there. I don't know that anyone of us wants to get into a war with the Colorado mafia."

"You'd crush them!"

"Well, this seems to be mostly Don Bosca's fight. I think we could do something, probably figure a way to get you out of there. I'm just surprised the Beppe family would be stupid enough to lock you up at the compound."

"Why?"

"It's the mafia business. You don't hold hostages in the _obvious _location. Much less your own _compound!_ You hold them elsewhere. Say…a warehouse by the docks. The western docks is the best location to hide hostages…many criminals have hidden out there over the years, and were never found…The only access to the warehouse besides, essentially, walking to the front door, is a tunnel…which leads to the airport. Which we own, of course. Think about it. Also. Hide the phone."

The phone clicked off and Tyler lowered it from his ear, he blinked a couple times and chuckled as his gaze fell onto the door. Thinking fast, he grabbed the knife and tossed it out the window, then proceeded to push the phone into his pocket before collapsing back to the ground and moving himself back into hostage position.

It was not long before Daniel and Vladimir returned, scowling at the family. Ellen, Chloe and Bennett all flinched, but Tyler merely stared at the two with a strong aura of confidence. "What the fuck was that!" Daniel exclaimed. "Who threw the knife out the window? You hit one of my men!"

"Sorry," Tyler remarked, "I guess I couldn't work my aim too well with my mouth. I just wanted to get you guys back up here." The family slowly looked towards him and Tyler closed his eyes. "Listen. I don't mean to screw up your organization or anything, don't mean to insult you, but…you guys are a couple of bozos." He threw his head back, laughing at the men. They raised their eyebrows and Vladimir shifted his gun onto Tyler. Daniel lifted his hand to the top of the gun and pushed it down, narrowing his eyes.

"Let's hear what the brat has to say. Tyler, I give you a minute."

"What? Only that? Okay." He let out a sigh and lifted his shoulder. "Here's the thing, you guys are at war with an Italian family. Correct? Well, I've watched the Godfather movies maybe a million times, and this thought occurred to me. Your compound is an obvious place to hide hostages, _never_ hide hostages there!" If they were as stupid as they seemed, then he could surely manipulate this.

"Well what do you suggest? It isn't like there's anywhere to go when this place is surrounded by Cubans."

"Au contraire! Mom told me of a place that the Cubans don't own around here." Daniel raised an eyebrow and Tyler quickly nodded his head. "A place that _doesn't_ look obvious to hide I'm sure." Ellen gave him a curious look and Chloe started to whimper. "A warehouse down by the docks over the west, it isn't owned by the Cubans. History tells me that many criminals and rebels hid out there and were never located. If you wanted to really secure the Bosca family _wouldn't _find us, you would hide us there."

Vladimir scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Shut up boy-"

"No he's right." Daniel tapped his chin and began to pace the floor. Tyler smirked confidently as the man narrowed his eyes and cursed beneath his breath. "I can't believe I didn't think of it! He's right, hiding them here in the compound is too fucking obvious. Vladimir, get the men ready, we're going to transport them to this warehouse." Vladimir rolled his eyes and left the room. Daniel started to walk out, but stopped to glance back. "This better not be some kind of trick, boy."

"Oh it's not, Mr. Beppe. I swear, it is no trick."

"Good. I'd hate to think of what would happen to your little sister if it were." Chloe gasped and Tyler glanced down at her protectively. Daniel left and the door slammed shut, jolting the family from their confused dazes. He huffed and closed his eyes. No, he'd keep Chloe close. There was no way in hell he was letting harm come to his family.

* * *

Well, what are your thoughts?


	24. Bringing Down the Stronghold

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 24 (Bringing Down the Stronghold)

No sleep was granted in the morning, Gabe had been essentially pushed out of the bed by his brother. They had 'work' to do, as he said, and no time warranted their 'rest'. Much to his disdain, he was rushed through a quick cold shower and had to throw on some clothes without time to dry off. They couldn't stay in one place for long, knowing that they would now be recognized by the Colorado mafia wherever they went.

Now they stood before Mr. Walsh's house, the reason they had to worry was because they were sure the Colorado Mafia would want to start working to secure their Consigliere before PJ's men got a grasp of him. Would they be under fire here at Mr. Walsh's place? He didn't _want _to see another fight, but it was unarguable that he would see plenty more. The deaths he caused were like to weigh heavily upon his mind for some time. Perhaps now, he could save lives by converting Paul over, or at least, sending him into hiding.

Gabe's head shot up as the door opened and Paul's wide eyed gaze fell upon the men. He started to shut the door, but PJ slipped his foot between it and the frame, then pushed forward with his hand, smirking as the man gasped out, "We're just here to talk, Mr. Walsh, that is all. Let us in? I'll ask nicely one time. The second, we're coming in."

Paul shuddered before looking outside and scanning the area, "Were you followed?"

"Does it look like I would let that happen?" The older man lifted his shoulders and let the group inside. Gabe could tell from the expression that he was terrified of having PJ over to 'talk', and anyone could understand why surely. The man was shivering and shifting his gaze back and forth before he moved to his recliner. PJ stepped in front of him and Gabe beside his brother, Damian and Emmett stood behind them, making sure to keep watch on the door and windows. "All right Paul, here's the deal. I'm questioning your loyalty the Colorado Mafia. Now I might have told my sister and your son that I _wouldn't_ take you out, but don't think I'm not going to rough you up if I have to. You know what I want?"

"For me to defect from the Mafia?"

"Yes." PJ reached into his pocket and withdrew his wallet. Gabe's eyebrows shot up when he saw his brother withdraw a hefty sum of money, perhaps given to him by Vitale? "I can make it worth your while to be on our tab. We can offer you protection where they can't." Paul studied the money and slowly licked his lips in contemplation. Gabe folded his arms across his chest and glanced towards the kitchen doorway where Spencer was briefly poking his head into view.

"I uh-I'm not loyal. It's just, here's the thing…They made me Consigliere when I became DA. They've threatened violence against me and against my family if I left them." A familiar situation to which Gabe could sympathize, but it still didn't excuse the man from having ties to the mafia. "I don't want any part of their thing."

"I can understand that. I need to see some proof that you wish to leave them."

"I'll do anything. In fact…" Paul tapped his foot on the ground and turned his eyes towards his shoes for a minute before looking back to PJ. "I know a place that is their stronghold, I know where all their men are at. I'm their secret weapon, essentially. Do this for me, and I will gladly swear loyalty to the Bosca Family."

"All right, but I need you to remember it's a double edged sword. If any of our men are to fall under heavy fire, I need to know that you will promise them either the best lawyer or to turn your attention to some of the other families. You're a powerful man, Mr. Walsh. You can put people in prison and release whomever. Pull some strings."

"I will."

"What is your need?" Paul rose to his feet and crossed his arms. His face darkened and his eyes narrowed.

"I joined the mafia when I was young, met my wife around that time. I worked my way up guarding what is now the Colorado Mafia's stronghold. A warehouse where they manufacture all of their weapons, their secrets, and information of other families. See I started out a security guard for this warehouse, ran deals with another family until the Beppe family took over and seized control of the warehouse." PJ hummed and lifted his hand to his chin, tapping it slowly as Paul walked a bit to the right. The man closed his eyes and exhaled. "My wife was not big on my secret life, so I attempted to leave then. In retaliation, Don Beppe had his men beat my wife. She miscarried her second child as a result."

A rush of anger and pity shot through Gabe as he listened to the man's tale. He looked to Spencer, feeling sorry for the guy. Spencer's face was pale and his eyes were wide. When he saw Gabe looking to him, he quickly moved back into hiding. Paul's eyes shot open and he shifted a strong gaze to PJ.

"I want to send them a message. Take out their warehouse, blow it to bits. Without this, they will be heavily crippled. Destroy it, and I promise, my loyalty is with Don Vitale." Paul put his hand to his chest and bowed at PJ. "If I have your word, you have me at mine and I will step down from consigliere, hopefully with your help."

"It will be done, Mr. Walsh. They will not like losing their consigliere, so I will need you and your family to come with us and we will take you to a safe house until the Beppe family is out."

"Thank you, I will have vital information for you when you do this job."

"I understand."

An hour later they were at the warehouse Paul mentioned, staring from the top of a nearby hill. PJ moved a pair of binoculars to Damian, who looked through before giving them to Gabe. Gabe studied the warehouse with mixed emotions of shock and fear. The place was heavily guarded by the Beppe mafia, while being only a medium sized building. "We have to blow that up?" He choked on his words and slowly lowered the binoculars. "How the hell are we even supposed to do that?"

"Simple." Gabe looked up to his brother, his mouth ajar. How could PJ say this was _simple?_ PJ handed him a small remote with several buttons on it, rather, it looked almost identical to a television remote. If not for the fact that the power button said 'detonate' beneath it. "You stand guard with this switch. It will be connected remotely to each bomb. Damian, Emmett and I will infiltrate, place the bombs along the foundation. When we get out, I will signal you via radio and you hit that button. Got that?"

"Okay…" He felt his heart sink and slowly looked to the remote, he wanted to be a part of the action. It was disheartening that PJ wanted him out here, and of course, he didn't know why that was. "Yeah I'll do that." He looked up to see PJ gazing curiously at him with an arched brow. His brother's gaze was sharp and cutting deep into him. It felt as though PJ was looking through his very soul, he would truly make a great leader one day.

"Gabe, there are many people down there, this is a worse fight than the funeral was. I don't want you down there, you're not ready yet. Plus, if you hold the key to those bombs, they don't know that. If something goes wrong, the Colorado Mafia cannot stop you from detonating those things."

"So it's still a big task, huh?"

"Precisely." PJ flashed a smile and pat his back. "I know I can count on you, so just relax and wait for the call." He looked to the remote, it was like a log in his hand. He wanted to throw it away, he wanted to run. For some reason, anxiety was beating down heavily upon him. He had to keep reassuring himself that what he was doing was right. For the most part, it was, but it still scared the hell out of him. This wasn't the life the Colorado Mafia portrayed, but yet, this was the life of the mafia. The end result of all this would be the retrieval of Jo's family, and _that_ alone was the reason for all of this. "So can I count on you, Gabe?"

"Yeah. Yeah you can, PJ."

"Great." PJ looked to Emmett and Damian, then motioned towards the building down below. "Let's do this."

Gabe held his breath as the three rushed off, he studied their departing figures with a growing amount of pride, but was filled with concern. He studied the building through binoculars, then watched as PJ and the others made their way around the building, remaining hidden in the nearby brush.

The longer it went on that they snuck about without action, the more anxious Gabe became. He started to worry about what would happen if something went wrong. What would he do if PJ was lost in battle? How could he continue forward? A big part of this fight was his brother's strength, nothing more and nothing less. If he lost his brother, how on earth could _he_ push forward through the rest of the CO mafia alone?

These were just a few of the fears gripping his heart. Once he saw PJ and the others go inside the building, these fears heightened. His gaze shifted to the radio on the ground beside him, he was half tempted to pick it up and request PJ come back, but he knew better than to interfere.

Gunfire erupted from inside and Gabe's muscles tensed, he let out a quiet whine, imagining his brother laying dead in a pool of blood. He clenched his eyes shut and clenched his fist. _"Have faith, Gabe. Come on…"_ He blew out a rush of air and let out a grunt as he anticipated PJ's call. His body began to heat up and his heart steadily increased its pace. Nervousness shrouded him like a violent smog, sucking him dry of his air. _"Mafia…truly a dangerous lifestyle…" _What had he gotten himself into?

The call didn't come for some time. Gabe had not moved from the binoculars and was drenched in sweat. His teeth had been chattering and his body trembling. PJ's voice on the radio was a much embraced relief to him. He grabbed both the radio and the remote, grinning from ear to ear as his brother dished out his order. "Gabe, now's the time. We're leaving the warehouse. Bring it down!"

He looked through the binoculars, exhaling slowly, relaxing once he saw PJ and Damian rushing out of the building with Emmett in tow. Thankful to see them alive and safe, Gabe did not hesitate a second before striking the 'detonate' button.

An explosion ripped through the sky and a flash lit up the clouds surrounding them while fire and smoke reached out for the stars. A weight fell from Gabe's shoulders as he watched the building burn. How many gang members would be stuck inside? How many would die, how many would live?

His brother reached him rather quickly and pat him on the shoulder, giving him a subtle smirk, "Well you came through Gabe, I'm proud. Now that that's over, let's go talk with Paul."

"Glad you made it out of there, PJ."

"Did you ever doubt I would?"

"Not really, no." PJ gave him a skeptical look, then laughed heartily before walking off. Gabe rushed behind him and looked back to Damian and Emmett. Everyone was safe, but yet, this was only a start of what was to come.

When they returned to Paul, they were told that Vladimir was in Cuba right now, but would be returning to America within a week. They were also informed that Beppe moved the captive family to a warehouse and that tensions were heavy with the Cuban mafia.

That being said, PJ had opted to suggest forming an alliance with the Martinez Mafioso Family. Forming a connection with them could make them all that much stronger, and perhaps, flush out and eradicate the Beppe family with swifter succession.

* * *

Looks like Beppe's Consigliere is out and so is a great deal of their weapons and soldiers. Tell me your thoughts


	25. En Route to Cuba

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 25 (En Route to Cuba)

The time to fly to Cuba had come. A few weeks had passed as the team was forced to lay low and find shelter for the Walsh family. Gabe felt strong, he was prepared for a fight, but at the same time he was still highly anxious. Perhaps less so than he'd been when this mess started.

The remaining capos were dead no, war had broken out in the streets. Denver police were doing nothing to stop this fight, not that anyone cared. The whole of Colorado knew that the CO Mafia had bit the bullet big time, they were in full support of the extermination. It hadn't been an easy task at all. One of the capos had been found in bed with a prostitute at some hotel room, or moreover, he'd been followed. It was Emmett that broke through the hotel window and fired a rifle shot into the man during the middle of sex. The second Capo had been more of a struggle, managing to wound Damian with two gunshots into his torso before PJ went up behind the man and shot him point blank in the back of the head.

All wounds were healed over and an alliance had been formed with the Cuban mafia. In Colorado, the Bosca family had taken nearly all the rackets, while in Cuba, the Martinez family had been slowly weeding out whatever businesses Don Beppe took over. Still nothing was known of the safety of Jo's family, but one thing was sure, they had the full support of nearly all the mafia families they came around. In one way or another, Beppe repeatedly pissed off a new Mafioso on what seemed to be a daily basis.

Even rescuing Jo's family, he knew they'd never truly be safe. Not now, they'd have a target over their heads unless it was known they were protected. He understood what was to happen, what Don Vitale wanted to discuss with them. It was the same thing he'd discussed with PJ, and that was relocation. PJ would no longer just be Underboss in Colorado, but his power would now extend to the other forty-eight states, given he already had some control and power in New York as well. Together, he and Damian would make up the two most powerful people in the mafia, aside from Don Vitale himself. It both frightened and amazed Gabe to no end. He honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part of the mafia after all was said and done, but he still had time to think on that.

"Kick their asses," Jo's voice came out clear on her side of the phone. Gabe could hear some music in the background, it clashed with the overhead music on the plane. He was in a window seat beside Damian, who was busy reading a magazine. In the seats in front were PJ and Gabe, both discussing random things. It seemed Emmett was taking well the concept of PJ's relocating, though he wasn't too fond of losing his best friend. "Make damn sure my family is safe, Gabe."

"You got it Jo, we won't let anything happen to them." They would actually be _meeting_ Deuce and his father when they stepped foot in Cuba. There would be a mess of Cubans and Italians there from both the Martinez and Bosca families, a small army that would wipe out the compound. Of course, the first step would be taking out Vladimir.

They had attempted to take him out when he 'visited' the states a bit ago, but the assault failed. He saw them coming, swamped them with his guards and fled during the ensuing battle. Gabe ran after him with Emmett, but he got away. This time, they'd be stealthier. They couldn't forget that he would be expecting them still, considering he knew now there was a target over his head. Only Don Beppe thought himself invincible in all of this.

"You're speaking with Deuce of the Cubans, right?"

"Yeah, we've formed an alliance with them as well as Don Rio Garcia. Both Don Garcia and Don Martinez say they will help, and the family is or will be safe." He smiled as Jo breathed in sharply. It was a lot for her to take in, he knew she was also upset over missing the action. He simply could not allow her to be put in danger, plus PJ probably didn't want another person to worry about. Though she could hold her own. He took a moment to look out the window, gazing wistfully at the field of clouds below. "I wish you were seeing the view right now."

"I am. The View is on ABC right now…I've got nothing better to do." He shook his head, chuckling softly at her joke. She let out a sigh. "You heard your brother and Don Vitale, this is for the best. Though it is painful not knowing…not knowing what's to come."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I have faith in you, Gabe. I trust you guys. I know you'll get the job done." A tear dropped from his eyes as his lips curved into a smile and his heart skipped a beat. Her faith was what fueled him. She believed in him, and that was all he needed. "My father's mafia is getting weaker Gabe. Strike now, strike swiftly."

"We will."

"Gabe. Take them _all_ out, even my father. I have a dad, and that's Bennett. Don Beppe will _never_ be my dad. Nothing more than a sperm donor." The bitterness in her voice stung, but he accepted it. Her coldness was not directed to him, and he would take her venom and let it fuel him when he put a bullet between the eyes of the man who orchestrated the abduction of her family and massacre of his.

"Do you think they will take Don Vitale's offer?"

"There's really not much choice, but knowing mom, I think so. She'd rather be in New York where she knows it's safe than to be where she doesn't know for sure whether or not to keep watch over her shoulders."

"Your family will be protected by the Bosca family."

"I know. So will yours, Gabe."

"Yeah. How are they doing?" His heart jumped up when he heard Charlie's voice in the background. He missed his siblings dearly and couldn't wait to get back to them. He listened as Jo laughed at something Charlie was doing.

"They're great. Charlie's been doing some acting with her dolls. She's so adorable. Teddy's doing her best to watch over Charlie and Toby, but occasionally she needs someone to lift her up." Gabe frowned and leaned his shoulder against the wall of the plane. Bob and Amy came to his mind, laughing heartily. It still felt painful, remembering them as if they'd just been there only _yesterday_, but they were gone now. He couldn't imagine what Teddy must be going through losing them, knowing both her brothers were a part of something so dangerous. PJ had been struck a few times and he stated to not let Teddy know for that very reason. "She's slowly getting better, I think Charlie and Toby are really helping in that sense. Skyler's getting us active too."

"Really? How so?"

"She's getting us out in the garden and teaching us to cook. I've been teaching them some martial arts moves also. The more active the mind and body is, the happier a person will be."

"I suppose so." As long as Teddy was healing, he'd be happy. It was going to take some time, a long time, but he was confident things would get better. "You and Teddy know we'll make it back."

"While true, you can't keep a person from being worried. I think Teddy will always worry about whether or not you and PJ will be safe. I'm worried too, but I try not to dwell on it. I don't want to lose you and my family too, you know."

"You won't lose me."

"I know I won't. I'm confident. I love you, Gabe…still and always."

"I love you too." Stan said something in the background, but Gabe couldn't quite hear it. At the same time, he didn't _want_ to, he still couldn't get over the fact that a talking dog existed in this world. "Can you please tell Stan to stop talking randomly and scaring the crap out of me?"

Jo laughed, "I think he does it on purpose sometimes!" Gabe rolled his eyes and sighed as silence came over the phone. After a few seconds, Jo spoke up once again, a soft sadness lacing her voice. "Have you even talked to Mrs. Dabney yet?" His heart stilled and his body grew tense as guilt hovered over him like a dark cloud.

"No. I don't know what I'd tell her anyway. 'Hey I had to kill your son because he tried to kill my girlfriend and kidnapped her family after killing my parents'?" He glanced over to see Damian arch an eyebrow while still staring at his magazine. "I think it's bad enough she was told he had a 'boating accident', Jo. She lost her husband some time ago, and now she loses her son? It's no wonder that woman is so bitter."

"I know. I'm sorry you got thrust into all of this, Gabe. This life...I wish you weren't a part of it."

"I know. I guess I wouldn't have it any other way though, because it brought you back to me. Now, I can bring your family back. So it's not so bad."

"I don't want to lose you. I know I keep saying that, but Gabe, I just…I can't be tough all the time. I do have some softness in there and well, I don't love anyone else the way I feel for you, so it's more…I _can't_ lose you. Not again. We girls here, we all have something to lose. Skyler, me, Teddy…don't let us down Gabe. Even if you don't save my family, if something happens…_just come home. _Please."

His lips parted, but he could hardly think of anything to say. There was a shakiness in her voice and it stirred the emotions within him. He wanted to embrace her, tell her it was all right, but here he was on a plane more than a thousand miles away. He felt her fear for the first time, she'd been doing her best to hold it back all this time. He would almost have thought she didn't worry about anything.

"Jo. I promise you…" His muscles tensed and his tone relaxed. PJ glanced over his shoulder to let Damian know they were close to landing. Damian nodded and Gabe breathed in slowly, filling with anxiety and determination. The two forces clashed within, but it was Jo's love and concern that strengthened him all the more. "I will get your family, and we will come home safe."

"Yeah…" Jo emitted a painful chuckle and Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Teddy says 'in one piece, please', and Skyler just nodded her head. We love you guys."

"We won't let you down. The Beppe family…their days are numbered. We love you all too, don't worry too much, we will be back."

"I hope so."

After the plane landed, the group stepped out onto the pavement of the airport. Waiting for them were three men, surrounded by many soldiers. Of the taller men, one was thin and wore a white fedora with a white tuxedo while the other was a bit more muscular with slicked back hair and a proud smirk. In between them was a slightly shorter person, closer to Gabe's age. He had spiky brown hair, bushy brown hair, and a pair of headphones around his neck. He stepped forward and extended a hand.

"Hey, I'm Deuce." Gabe shook his hand and flashed a toothy grin. Things were looking up now, more than they had been in quite some time. Deuce twisted around and pointed to the men. "The one in the grey suit is my father Don Martinez. The man in the white is my girlfriend's father, Don Garcia. The army you see here are our people."

"It is good to meet you," PJ started, "I'm glad we could form this alliance."

"I know you, and I know Jo from briefly meeting her with you guys. That being said, we're more than happy to help. Besides, Beppe's been making a mess of this place."

"It's time to put an end to his regime. This has gone on long enough."

"Agreed."

* * *

Closing in, what do you think of the chapter?


	26. Taking Out Vladimir

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 26 (Taking out Vladimir)

"We have Vladimir's location." Deuce was informing them of the situation at hand, the shape of things upon their arrival. They'd managed to seek out Vladimir's location and were keeping strict watch over him in case he tried to go anywhere. "He's currently dining at one of _our_ dining establishments. Unbeknownst to him, of course. Our men have sealed off the exits, but he's not alone, he's got an ample supply of his guards dining there as well." Gabe huffed while PJ merely glanced up in the sky. Gabe wasn't sure whether to accuse Vladimir of being stupid or brilliant.

"Seems like a mix of brash intelligence and foolishness," PJ muttered, "Dining at a place owned by the enemy but at the same time, he brings a bunch of guards. I'd call that recklessness, really." Was it not reckless what they were about to do? Granted, they did have a plan mapped out this time. Vladimir would be under strict surveillance apparently, but he was on _their_ playing field. "Deuce, you said your people are prepped?"

"Yeah man. We're going to let Gabe sit down with Vladimir, to 'negotiate' peace. Under inspiration from the Godfather movies, we've got one of our own men stationed in the bathroom. After a few minutes, our soldier will step out and unload into Beppe's underboss. Be ready, because the second this happens his guards are bound to break out."

"Right. Gabe?" He looked up to PJ, trying to swallow down his own nerves at this. He was beginning to worry that once this happened, first instinct of the guards would be to shoot at _him, _and he was supposed to be unarmed upon entrance. "You understand when this happens, I want you going under the table to shield yourself until you can get a weapon. Once you do, get the fuck out of there. Got that?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"Don't take any unnecessary chances. Damian and I will get in there as soon as we can." He trusted them, more than anything, and that was important for what was about to go down. He didn't want to wind up dead. The plan was essentially to grab a gun, get out of there, jump into the getaway car and drive.

At the diner, Gabe entered to see a full establishment. Most of the people in there were suits, eating lavishly while glaring up at him. In the center of it all was Vladimir, feeding his face with a thick looking steak. His back was facing the bathroom. Gabe turned his gaze to the restroom to see one of the Martinez soldiers walking into the restroom. He was marked in civilian clothing while the rest of the Cubans were in their own uniforms. Their uniforms consisted of grey vests over navy blue dress shirts and dark slacks. Garcia's soldiers were more lavishly dressed in similar white tuxedos and fedoras as their Don was dressed.

The Beppe soldiers had purple polo shirt uniforms with black denim jeans. The restaurant was filled with half and half, one side consisted of the Cuban soldiers and one side consisted of Beppe's.

Vladimir glanced up at Gabe and motioned him forward, well aware of the peace negotiation. As Gabe moved forward, Vlad faced his palm outwards and he stopped moving. "Okay frisk him first," Vladimir stated. One of the guards moved over and Gabe lifted his arms out, sighing heavily as the man patted him down.

"He's clean, boss."

"All right. Gabe, have a seat." He did as instructed and glanced around for any civilians. Fortunately most civilians had been somehow pushed out the door, they didn't need any civilian casualties for what was about to happen. Vladimir chuckled and leaned forward, clasping his hands together over his plate. "I have to say, that was something else over there at the states, but am I to assume you've finally decided to cross over?"

"Well…you know how it is, my brother being Don Bosca's underboss and all." The waitress set a glass of water down before him. He took the glass and sipped on the water while Vladimir slowly nodded his head. "I've been living in his shadow for years, maybe I want to make a name for myself, you know."

"I see, so you want to show up your older brother." Vladimir leaned back and gently tapped his foot on the ground, scoffing under his breath. "Here I thought that little wench had you wrapped around her finger." Gabe tensed at the remark towards his girlfriend, but he held his stoic expression still. He wanted to lash out and strike him, but the time would come.

"Yes, but I've only defected from you because of the lies. Nobody discussed to me that the hostages were her family. Much less, that of Don Beppe's." Vitale nonchalantly waved his hand in the air and Gabe raised an eyebrow, awaiting whatever excuse the man had for this. "So why the lie? Why keep the truth from me? It makes me question loyalty ties."

"Ah yes I understand. Well if you must know, it is the don's former wife and her new family that we have. We have them held up in a warehouse here in Havana. We'll have to learn of your loyalty to us first. I want you to tell me where your girlfriend is hiding out, then we will discuss further plans."

"Oh? Okay…" There was no way in hell he would divulge Jo's location. Even if this was all a sham, he was _not_ giving her away to the enemy. His eyes slanted as he spotted the soldier at the bathroom door, the man was beginning to step out. Vladimir was completely in the blind, unsuspecting due to this conversation. "Well then. As far as I know, she's with the Italians." Vladimir tensed and clenched his hands into fists, growling at what was likely to be seen as an impossible situation. "I'd say there's going to be a bloodbath if you try to get her without careful planning."

"So you would hand us your girlfriend without question? I see how it is…"

"Well…" Gabe started to smirk, his heart swelling with pride as the soldier began to remove the machine gun from his coat. "No. I wouldn't." Vladimir raised an eyebrow and Gabe quickly grabbed the steak knife and slammed it down into Vladimir's hand. The man screamed in pain and seconds later the soldier had begun to fire shots into Vladimir's back. Gabe watched in shock with the rest of the people in the diner as the man's body jerked back and forth. The man's scream was endless, and blood flew in almost every direction as this man became a human punching bag. Anger coursed through Gabe's veins as his eyes locked with Vladimir's. "I would never betray the woman I love or my brother to the likes of _you_."

"Fuck you, Duncan!" Gabe jumped beneath the table just in time to avoid being shot at by Vladimir's guards. More gunfire erupted from the other side of the restaurant. He looked up in time to see nearly every person in the restaurant shooting at someone. Vladimir's body fell onto the floor beside him, the man's eyes wide and his mouth open in eternal agony. Gabe scoffed at him and pulled a gun from the holster on Vladimir's hip.

"Burn in hell." Gabe rose from the table, unlocking the pistol's safety and began firing at some of the soldiers near the exit. He clenched his jaw and made a beeline for the door, then kicked it open. All in all, he was expecting that this fight would be more of a strenuous task, but for him, all had to do was make a run for it.

Once outside, PJ and Damian rushed in with their machine guns. Gabe made it into the back seat of the nearby car Emmett and a Deuce were sitting in. It was there he noticed blood on his hands. He looked down to his side and cursed as a searing pain shot through him, he'd been hit! "Shit! Emmett, I'm bleeding!"

"What?" Emmett looked back to see the widening blood on his shirt. The adrenaline was masking the pain. "Fuck, we'll get you to the safe house soon, PJ and Damian will be there shortly." Gabe looked over his shoulder to see several of Beppe's guards getting into their own cars.

"Well make a run for it! They're coming after us!"

"On it." Emmett slammed down the gas and Deuce leaned out of his side of the car, firing shots at the people chasing after them. Gabe tore off his shirt and used it to apply firm pressure to the wound, grunting as the pain increased. Sweat began pouring from him as he listened to the gunshots echoing outside.

He could hear the click of bullets striking the car, and the sound of shattering glass, but there wasn't much he could do aside from focusing on the wound. After several minutes he heard a loud pop and searing pain hitting his body, followed by complete darkness.

When Gabe awoke, he was in a bedroom laying down on a soft mattress. He heard his brother's voice, PJ was talking with Emmett and Damian. Deuce was there as well. His vision slowly adjusted and a moan left his lips. "What was-Gabe!" PJ rushed over to him, an expression of fear was clearly visible from the tense facial features and the creased forehead. "You had me scared to death, damn it."

"What happened?"

"You were shot in the side and then the back. We got you bandaged up but you've been out for a couple hours now." He started to sit up, but fell back down when pain tore through him once more. "Rest easy Gabe, let your body heal."

"No, I have to get up. I have to fight…"

"No you don't, you'll be just fine. We aren't going to do anything until you're better anyway." He cursed mentally, blaming himself for becoming a liability. Everyone was concerned for _him_, this was not what he wanted. He looked up to his brother, thinking on the fate of Vladimir and the shootout that occurred. PJ breathed in sharply and closed his eyes. "Vladimir is dead, by the way. We've taken out most of the guards that were there. All we need to do now is take out Don Beppe."

Gabe let out a violent growl as he thought on the man, he now hated this man more than he'd ever hated anyone in his lifetime. How close had he come to death's door? Either way, he was beyond pissed, beyond the point of even the smallest of negotiation. "I want to personally tear him apart."

"You'll get the chance, Gabe." PJ rubbed his hair and let out an exhausted sigh. "We all need rest after what just went down. It's going to take a little time, but once we take out Don Beppe, it will be all over."

"Good. How long till I heal and can get back out there?"

"Not long. You'll live." He smiled at his brother and watched as PJ ran his hand through his hair and paced the floor. He'd never seen PJ so anxious before, but it was an oddly pleasant sight. Perhaps a reminder of his brother's own humanity, something that he felt was important to see.

"All right. I'll be more careful next time."

"Good, I don't want to risk you, there's too much at stake here. I was starting to question my decision to bring you aboard."

"I'm doing this for Jo, for our family and hers. You made the right decision, PJ. Don't question that. We can do this." He moved his hand over his shoulder and slowly sat up, straining himself to ignore the pain. "Let's just do our best. I'm not going to fail anyone." PJ looked over to him and slowly nodded. There was nothing PJ could do, Gabe was going to put himself out there at any cost. They were going to win this war. "We got this."

* * *

I wonder if I make my stories too long. I always notice a waning of interest by the time the story gets farther in and closer to the ending. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. There are a couple of chapters left


	27. Storming the Compound

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 27 (Storming the Compound)

After two days of laying low, Gabe was back on his feet again and working out to keep his body strong. The bullets that had been in him were taken out through surgery and his wounds were healing, though the scarring was still present. He was eager to be rid of the Beppe family for good. Deuce said they had something to tell them, but wanted to wait until after Beppe was taken out.

Currently there were no more rackets or businesses under the Colorado Mafia's control. All the made men were dead and buried, and finally, it was time to run down the compound where hopefully they would find and take out the final person.

Gabe tightened his left arm as he pulled up a forty pound dumbbell, his back muscles were getting stronger after the gunshot, a sign of his healing. Outside the door he could hear PJ discussing with Damian the next plan. He was growing more antsy with each passing second. He lowered the dumbbell and dropped it to the floor, his gaze hovered on the door. Gabe began tapping his foot impatiently on the ground as he leaned back and waited for his brother to come inside. _"Been waiting for the call to action for some time now…when do we raid the compound?"_

He took a deep breath, then moved to his feet, he wiped his slightly clammy palms on his jeans and walked over to the door. As he opened it, he made sure not to sound too eager. "PJ, when do we deal with the compound?" PJ glanced over with a subtle smirk.

"We were just discussing doing right now while he's weak. Beppe himself should be at Vladimir's funeral, so if we go now we can be there and wait for him to arrive. We'll take him out and destroy the compound. Of course, we'll have to get him to let us know where the family is." He was a bit worried about that aspect, but the plan sounded doable. The only issue would be getting in. Whether Daniel was there or at a funeral, there would still be guards there. Where there were guards, there would be opportunity to warn, and if he was warned, they would lose their shot at getting to him.

"What if he's warned of our location? If the people at the compound see us, the more likely he is to be warned, right?"

"Correct. That's why we sneak in. We can't let our presence be made known. Once inside we'll prepare the bombs, deal with Beppe, and make our way out."

At the compound, Gabe stood before the iron gate. Beside him was PJ, then Damian, Emmett and Deuce. He narrowed his eyes at the tall tower behind the small two story home. The yard was large and covered with various brick walls. A driveway moved from the beginning of the gate and swirled into a circle behind the blue and white brick home. "Tell me PJ, what would life be like if we never met Jo or Skyler?" PJ narrowed his eyes and huffed, smirking subtly as the others glanced over.

"Boring as shit."

"Yeah…I think so too. Though I have to wonder, what would be going on right now if Mom and Dad were alive?"

"They'd be freaking out. I'm sure they wouldn't like what we're doing, but there's not much choice. We need to do right by them, Gabe. We need to do right by them, by Jo, by our siblings, we need to do this."

"Yeah. I don't think I would have gotten this far if not for you."

PJ laughed and pat his heavy hand upon Gabe's shoulder, "You wouldn't have." He raised an eyebrow to his brother and scoffed. They looked back into the large yard to see many guards walking about, none had seen them quite yet. "Okay, so we're going around the back."

"Sounds good to me." They had packed with them ropes to lasso the iron spears at the top of the stone wall framing the compound. They were going to use these to latch on and climb over the top. Of course, they'd have to wait and make sure it was clear before the next person went over. Each had a knife to use in order to take out any that might see them.

Once around the back, Gabe was the first to go over. He swung his lasso up and caught the iron spear. He pulled on the rope to make sure it was sturdy, then began his ascent up the wall. He pushed his right shoe between two spears and lifted his left foot on the top of them to push off. When he studied the ground before leaping, he was pleased to see nobody around.

He jumped from the top and landed safely on the ground, it really wasn't that big of a climb. The wall was about eight feet high, the fall was survivable as long as they remembered not to put their legs in a position to break upon landing. "Is it clear?" PJ asked. Gabe pressed his back against the back wall of the house. After looking both ways, he nodded and called out.

"Clear!" The rest made their way over one at a time. They stood beside the back window and Gabe slowly looked into the house, humming as he watched one of the maids walk by. "No one in the window. I'm going to check and see if it's unlocked." He put his palms on the window and started to slide it up, much to his pleasure, it opened with ease. "You'd think he'd keep it shut."

"A little ballsy if you ask me. Then again he probably figures no one would make it into the yard." PJ was the first to enter. Gabe and the others waited until he gave the all clear. Much to his astonishment, he heard a soft thud before the call came. After this, he made his way inside in time to see Gabe shoving a guard into a broom closet. "Had a bit of a run-in, but it's good now."

"All right great." They followed him quietly through a hallway leading to a large door. Two people were standing in front of the door, talking about women and sexual activities. Gabe stared nonchalantly and PJ motioned to Damian and Emmet. The two men walked to the guards and hopped up behind them, swiftly knifing them in the throat. Once the bodies collapsed, Deuce ran forward to start unlocking what they were certain was Beppe's office.

Once they opened the door, their thoughts were confirmed. The man's wooden desk rested in the center on a grey carpet. Gabe was startled by the number of portraits on the walls of Jo and her mother. He let out a growl and moved inside with the others. "What's next? We just wait?"

"Pretty much," PJ muttered. Gabe turned to see Deuce, Damian and Emmett bombs from their coats. "All right, you three know what to do. Find strong parts of this building and place the bombs, we'll set them to ignite when I give the signal. Just find a spot to hide near them."

"Will do," Damian replied. The trio fled and PJ shut the door. Gabe moved to the leather brown chair and took a seat. He spotted a framed photo of Jo sitting on the corner of the desk, she was much younger and frowning at the camera. Her hair was shorter, stopping just a centimeter past the jaw. He thinned his lips and breathed in through his nostrils

_"Don't worry Jo. We'll get your family out."_ It was a strange feeling, usually you had to win the trust and respect of the father. Not kill them. It was as Jo said, however, her father was Bennett. This guy was just a man that kidnapped her family and threw them all into turmoil. "So what's the big thing with the tower out back?" PJ turned to him and folded his arms across his chest.

"That's where Mr. Walsh said the family _was_ being held, that they removed the family from the compound to some warehouse. Deuce has a few of his men lining the base of that tower with bombs, so it will come falling." This was shocking news, he didn't know the family had been transported _again!_ The news only made him angrier, wishing more for the death of these people. "So what are you going to do after this, Gabe?"

"What do you mean?" PJ leaned against the wall and breathed out, shutting his eyes.

"Simple, when we get Jo's family, what do you intend to do? The mafia is a hard life, and you're certainly not _required_ to stay in if you don't want to."

"I…" His heart stilled and he paused for a moment, how could he know what he wanted? Had he not proven to his brother that he could do the job? It was good to know he had an _option_. "I don't know, I guess I'll have to talk to Jo about it…"

"Yeah, good idea. I just worry man, I don't want to have to put you at risk if it can be avoided." He was grateful for the concern, but didn't think it was needed. He'd done fine thus far, at least he thought so. "I have to look after you, Teddy, Charlie, and Toby. It would be good to avoid having none of you constantly squaring with death every day."

"Funny. I don't think Dons do a lot of the footwork…"

"It depends on what's going on, I suppose. Don Vitale doesn't do a lot of the dirty work unless he has to."

After several minutes, they were informed via radio that Daniel Beppe was pulling alongside the home and getting out of his car. Gabe spun around in the chair, smirking subtly as Gabe hid beside the door with Damian. Deuce was stationed outside the tower while Emmett was watching from the side of the house.

"This is starting to piss me off," Daniel muttered as the door opened. Gabe heard two voices with him, agreeing to his statement. The man let out an exhausted sigh. "First my Capos and Soldiers go, now Vladimir's gone? Jesus!"

Gabe heard two swift thuds followed by a gasp. On cue, Gabe spun around in the chair just as Damian and PJ slammed the door shut. Two guards were now on the floor with blood pooling beneath their necks. He tapped his fingertips together and smirked as Daniel Beppe turned a scathing glare upon him. "You!"

"That's right. It's me." Gabe tilted his head to the side, chuckling softly as Daniel held his glare on him. "Don't even think about screaming, sir." He slowly pushed himself from the desk and started moving towards Daniel, locking his hands behind his waist. Daniel clenched his fists and began growling, but the second he started moving forward, Damian and PJ sprang forward and locked their knife blades at his throat. Daniel froze in place and pulled his jaw back into a scowl. "We want to know where the hell you have Jo's family at."

"Oh, I was under the impression you were out to see me killed."

"Oh we are, in fact Jo asked me to do it myself." Daniel's eyebrows rose sharply. He began his low growl once more and started to raise his hand, grabbing PJ's wrist. "See your dumb ass decided to attack my family and my _brother_ is Don Vitale's Underboss. One of the two." Daniel looked over to PJ with wide eyes.

"You're shitting me."

"Not one bit. I should shit you, but I shit you not."

"How did you get in here, bastard!"

"Snuck in through the back window. You really don't know how to keep things secure, do you?" Gabe snapped his fingers and the two men pulled their knives away. As quickly as they did, they grabbed Daniel's wrists and held them behind his back. Gabe felt a whirlwind of anger forming inside as he met the man's dark gaze. "There are so many things I want to do to you. So many things that should happen to you."

He flexed his fist then slammed it into Daniel's abdomen. The man gasped out and started to fall to his knees, but PJ and Damian held him up still. With a shout, Gabe lifted his leg and kicked hard into Daniel's chest, then sent another punch into his chest. Daniel gasped out for air . "That's for Jo and her family, asshole. Now this one's for my parents…"

Daniel's eyes widened as Gabe flicked a blade from his sleeve and slashed it across the man's chest. The man cried out in pain and let out a shout as PJ and Damian pushed him forward, slamming him onto the desk. PJ slammed his hand onto Daniel's head, pushing him down onto the desk.

"Okay Beppe, now you're going to tell us where the family is. Where are those hostages?"

"I knew you couldn't be trusted! I fucking knew it!" Scoffing, Gabe lifted his head for a minute, then slammed his fist into Beppe's back. The man cried out in anguish. "Fuck you!"

"How about you _cooperate_?" He grabbed Daniel's hair and yanked his head up. PJ frowned as Gabe slammed the man's face into the desk. All the range within him was causing this. He hated this man with a burning passion, everything that happened to him was because of this asshole. "Just talk! That's all you have to do."

"Fuck you."

"Where are they!" Gabe yanked Damian's knife away and held it down towards Daniel's crotch. Daniel screamed out and Gabe narrowed his eyes. He felt a rush of nausea from this, but he couldn't stop himself. His hatred for this man was far too overwhelming. "I will cut in if I have to. All you have to do is cooperate."

"Okay fine! They took them to some fuckin' warehouse! Over at the docks near the airport! Jesus!"

"Thank you." Gabe moved the knife away and turned around, sighing heavily. His jaw locked and his muscles tightened from all the tension. Maybe PJ was right. The disgusted feeling was overwhelming, but the anger within was just too hard to control. "The things you did to your daughter, to your wife, I can't begin to understand. You're a man that cannot, should not be trusted…That being said, you are a man that will die." He closed his eyes and listened as Daniel let out a loud grunt.

When he turned, he saw Damian digging his knife into Daniel's chest. Blood was trickling from the man's lips and his eyes were frozen on Gabe. Gabe narrowed his eyes and scowled as PJ pushed the man's body to the ground. He was ready to get to the warehouse now, but that first required getting off the compound.

"Let's go the way we came," PJ suggested, "Leave quietly and carefully. We know where the family is, so we can go."

They made their way out of the compound slowly and carefully, then scaled the wall they climbed over when they first arrived. When they were far enough away, the bombs were detonated. Gabe breathed in slowly as he watched the smoke and flames rise into the air and the giant tower fell upon the house, crushing it.

When all was said and done, Deuce made his one final announcement. "The family is already safe." Gabe was stunned to hear it, but at the same time, he was relief. They turned to Deuce, giving him questionable looks. "I was contacted via cell phone by Tyler and convinced him to get them to take him to the warehouse near our airport. They were taken there and our men were able to go in and free the hostages."

"You knew this all along?" PJ inquired.

"Not all a long, but just long enough. We wanted to first take out the Beppe family though. Come with me…I'll take you to Don Garcia's safehouse, that's where they are."

Once at the safehouse, the hostage family were spotted sitting around the kitchen table. Gabe felt a bit embarrassed to be meeting them before Jo got the chance to introduce, but he was grateful either way that they were safe and alive.

Bennett and Ellen were huddled close while Chloe was seated comfortably beside Tyler. They all lifted their gazes and Ellen's eyes widened. "Gabe! Gabe, is Jo all right? What's going on?"

"Everything's okay now. It's time to go home though…Jo is in New York with Don Vitale." Ellen put her hand to her chest and breathed out a sigh. Chloe asked about Stan and Gabe chuckled, remembering the witty mutt. "Yeah…he's safe too, Chloe."

PJ nodded firmly, clearing his throat, "The Beppe mafia family won't be a threat any longer." The family looked amongst each other with a mixture of emotions. "Don Vitale has an offer for you, however. First and foremost, let's get you home."

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Done with the chapter, let me know what you thought.


	28. Closure

The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N:

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Chapter 28 (Closure)

"It's all over now…" Gabe stood before his parents graves with his family and Jo's family beside them. Jo held his hand and put her head to his shoulder. Ellen, Bennett, Tyler, and Chloe all gazed mournfully at the graves. They were unsure of what to say given they never really _knew_ the Duncans, but they were there out of respect. PJ stood to Gabe's right, with Teddy standing beside him and holding onto Toby. Charlie stood in between them, looking at the graves with tearful eyes.

Teddy whimpered softly as she knelt beside the graves. "Toby these are your parents," she whispered. Toby turned his eyes to the grave. He was as silent as the air around them. "They were great people…" They were here one last time before their move to New York. Vitale had suggested the move and they accepted, Emmett and Damian, along with other members of the family were unloading the house for them. None of them could bear to enter that place again.

Vitale also spoke with Jo and her family about moving to New York, to be safer. They agreed, primarily because they also wanted to be close to those who helped save them. Teddy had said her goodbye to Spencer, he was moving to Boston anyway and things were too stressful now. Unfortunately she didn't want to work on a relationship right now.

PJ's face was tense as he eyed his father's grave, "Dad I promised you…I would take care of this family. I will." Teddy rose up beside him and looked up with deep sorrow. Gabe felt Jo squeeze his hand and looked over, she was giving him a reassuring look. It was a comfort for him. He felt PJ's hand on his shoulder and quickly looked back at his brother. "Gabe, have you and Jo discussed what you want to do?" He slowly nodded his head and closed his eyes, breathing out slowly as he recalled their crucial conversation.

_"You were hurt?!" Jo exclaimed checking his scars. She began inspecting him the minute he made it back. She was thrilled at his return of course, there was no denying that. Tears welled up in her eyes as Gabe looked to her._

_ "Yeah…but I made it out. I had to."_

_ "How bad was it?"_

_ "Not too bad…" It wasn't the whole truth, but he didn't want to worry her too much. "I passed out from it and had to deal with surgery, but that was it." Jo let out a groan and began pacing the floor beside the bed. She ran her hand through her hair, whining softly._

_ She'd already been hugged to death by her family, the reunion was an emotional one where not a single dry eye existed. He let them reunite before actually doing anything with her. Already he had Bennett's approval to date his daughter, and that was a great thing indeed! Of course, he had to bear in mind that Bennett 'knew how to mind-fuck someone'. He had reassured the man that he would never do anything to hurt Jo. _

_ "Jo, I…PJ posed a question for me." Jo stopped and turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "He asked me if I would consider not remaining in the mafia after all of this."_

_ "He did?"_

_ "Yeah…I don't know what to think about it though."_

_ "Well why not? Gabe, it's a dangerous life." He bowed his head for a second. She put her hands to his shoulders and looked into his eyes. He gave her a subtle smile and she hugged him close. "I told you I don't want to lose you…you know what I think about that choice, I think…"_

_ He smiled sheepishly and gently kissed her temple. "Never hurts to ask, though." Sure she didn't want him in the mafia anymore. This was not a surprise, it was rather obvious. "I will stay out if it's what you really want."_

_ "Please. I just…if it's possible, I want a sense of normalcy, a life away from the mafia."_

_ "I know…"_

"It's been decided that I stay away from the mafia," Gabe replied. PJ smiled appreciatively and Jo kissed his jaw. He looked to his parents' grave markers and exhaled. They likely would have the same opinion, that he ought to stay out of the mafia. Not to mention, he didn't feel comfortable enough with it. Even though PJ could deal with it, it was still a hard strain even for _him_. That made it all the harder for Gabe. "I think living a normal life in New York will be just fine for me. Besides, it's all a bit too much, you know." PJ nodded and folded his arms.

"Yeah, I can accept that. I think you made the right decision."

"Same here," Skyler said from behind. The group turned to see Skyler walking towards them. Vitale was standing behind her, smiling at the group. PJ put an arm around her waist and she tenderly kissed his lips. "PJ worries too much about you, he's going to be worrying about all of you. I can't ask PJ _not_ to be a part of the mafia, but you have an option."

"It's what mom and dad would have wanted," Gabe remarked. He turned back to their graves and frowned when he thought of his grandparents. Neither set of grandparents could help them, or really, wanted to help them. "We're all on our own, with PJ looking after us. I'm sure that being said, mom and dad probably would rather I be free from that life, right?"

It wasn't just that, it was the fact that it was _his_ life that led to their deaths. It was his fault, if anyone's fault. Sure, he couldn't have _known_ it, but he still felt like he had a bit of the blame. "If not for me, they'd still be here."

"Don't blame yourself," Jo started, "We're all to blame a little bit, I guess. It wasn't your fault…"

"I just hate what happened…I wish I could have done something to stop it."

"At least you have your siblings, Gabe."

"True, I guess…"

Vitale walked up beside him and bent over, setting a rose down between the two graves. The man rose up and the others looked up at him. "No matter what, we will be here for you. Always know you have a friend in us." Gabe nodded and the others murmured their agreements.

The murmurs died down and silence once again filled the air. Gabe felt his heartbeat slowly pounding within him. He couldn't stand his parents being gone, but at least, they were being given a proper chance to say goodbye. How else could he pay his respects?

He knelt beside their grave and slowly moved his fingers along the letters on their graves. His eyes welled up with tears and his heart began to race in his chest. "Mom, Dad, I love you…we all did, we're all going to miss you. We're going to do our best…to grow…watch over us…" It was going to be a long and hard road, but it was possible to heal from this. He knew they would.

He didn't want to say it like it was a bad thing, loving the daughter of the mafia may have led to their demise. No, that had to be unrelated. He made his mistakes, his parents paid the price for it, but he made things right by taking out the Beppe family. Now began the healing process.

Whatever it takes. That was his goal. To make it through life no matter what it took and no matter how he got there. Jo would be by his side, he was aware of that. Just as Skyler would be at PJ's side.

Gabe prayed that his parents were doing well in heaven, that they were smiling down on them and hopefully they could be proud. He was going to do everything to make sure they'd be proud of him. "Let's make a pact from here on out, that we'll always cherish Mom and Dad, always keep their memory in mind."

"Agreed." PJ smiled sadly and looked to the car in the distance. "Also, to keep everyone safe and protected. No matter what it takes…I'm not going to let you or Toby be influenced into the mafia. I'd rather keep my brothers away from it."

"A noble cause if any," Vitale replied. Gabe agreed, he saw nothing wrong with this policy. After all that happened, surely PJ wouldn't want to let them get involved in such a dangerous lifestyle. "Soon we should head to the airport, but I'll give you as much time as you need to mourn."

"Thank you."

As people started to leave, Gabe felt his brother put his arm around his shoulders. He looked up to his brother and saw PJ smirk. "You know Gabe, who would have thought we'd both wind up falling in love with someone tied to the mob?"

"I would never have dreamed it."

"Yeah. Let's make sure to take care of those girls, they're strong though."

"I'll say…you didn't see what Jo did to the guy that tried to nab her in that alleyway." PJ chuckled briefly and shook his head. Gabe looked over his shoulder and smiled at the car where everyone was waiting for them. "Now we just have to take care of Teddy, Charlie and Toby…it's not going to be easy on them…"

"No, but I have a feeling things are going to work out."

"Yeah. Me too…"

"Here's to the future, Bro." Gabe smiled as PJ pat his shoulder and walked towards the others. He gave one final wistful look to his parents' graves and closed his eyes, making a mental promise. He was promising that no matter what, he would never let harm come to his family again. PJ could become Don, but he'd be there for his siblings when PJ wasn't. That was his job now, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He opened his eyes and turned back, smiling as he saw Jo in the distance waiting for him, waving. Beside her was Stan. She was happy to finally be _free_. What an experience, though. Falling for the daughter of the mafia. "Yeah, and I'd love her either way…" He gave one final parting prayer to his parents, then hurried after the others.

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There it is, the final chapter. It's been fantastic and I hope to see all of you elsewhere one day ^_^ Thanks to all who hung around and enjoyed the tale!


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